All about pure gold

Pure gold is not a pure metal, but is an alloy with the addition of copper. Exquisite reddish tint he owes it to her. The term “pure” has not been applied to gold in the modern classification for a long time. Now you can hear about him only in colloquial speech.

Rafting now is very rare and does not actually applyas it is impractical and inconvenient for everyday use. Get jewelry made of pure gold alloy only by ordering its manufacture from a jeweler individually.

Unofficially, he is called “Russian,” but there is little demand for jewelry made of this metal in Russia. Pure gold is an alloy with pure gold. It should contain up to 10% of additives and at least 90% of precious metal.

Since this material shows high softness, additives in the form of iridium, cadmium, as well as platinum, silver, zinc, copper and others are traditionally mixed in it. Such impurities are called ligature. With them, the properties of gold are enhanced, including its strength. Additives also affect the color of the precious material.

Red or, as they say, scarlet translated from Old Slavonic means scarlet, red. In tsarist Russia, foreign coins of gold were used, which were commanded to be called gold coins. Minting their own coins in Russia began only in the 15th century in the form of premium distinguishing marks.

The appearance of the first Russian chervonets as a means of payment was a consequence monetary reform conducted by Peter the Great. Their weight and alloy value corresponded to foreign coins. Chervonets settled with foreign nationals.

Presumably to get a reddish undertone in the old days. paint was mixed in gold from an extract of a special kind of worms. According to another version, the term occurred from the long-obsolete word "scarlet", meaning "dark red" color. There is a third option, in which the word “red” is interpreted as “red-hot”. When heated, the alloy appeared "red" glow. In the presence of a large number of additives, the red color did not appear.

In past times, the amount of gold in products was measured spools (4.266 g), and to everything starting from 72 spools was pure. Historically, his sample was considered high (not lower than the current 750). Sometimes even now, red precious metal is mistakenly called “pure red”: in red gold, the percentage of copper is much higher - 41.5, which corresponds to the marking of 585 samples.

It was mostly special family jewelstreasured by and transmitted from generation to generation. The exception was things in which fragility and softness were compensated by mass. The most common "scarlet" products weigh over 10 grams.

In modern days, the term “pure red” is understood not only as a shade of gold, but also directly as royal chervonets. In Soviet times, such coins were made tooth crowns. Such a decision in the medical sense was not bad: a clean and soft noble metal with great inertness, not reacting to acids and alkalis, that is, safe for health.

The shade with the "red" should look barely noticeable, visible only in comparison with the product, for example, marking 585 samples. Unfortunately, at present, the term “pure gold” is used to denote a cheap alloy with gold, a distinct red color due to the excessive content of cuprum in it. True noble gold shows its famous reddish tint only when heated.

The percentage of copper may vary, but the amount of gold always exceeds 90%, then this is a valuable high-grade variety. Pure alloy characteristics differ from pure gold ductility, fusibility, excessive softness. It is so prone to deformation and abrasion that its authenticity was determined by a primitive check by biting - on the real alloy, tooth marks were clearly manifested.

That absolute 100% gold is not in natureknown fact. There is only high-grade, conventionally called "clean." It is impractical and easily deformable. It is suitable for the production of exclusively bank bullion.

But is it right to classify them as pure gold? There is no consensus on this. Jewelers refer to pure copper alloy in the range of samples from 916 to 986th. but in different publications, this is the name for juicy yellow metal going to bullion: 995th, 999th and 999.9th samples, that is, when at 99.99% - a noble metal, and the rest are impurities.

It turns out that there is a lot of confusion around the “Russian” gold. In any case, we are talking about alloys of the highest standard.. Regarding popular red alloys, then, in addition to the main component, they contain fractions of silver and red copper.

By purchasing such jewelry, you need to be especially vigilant. Fraudsters add copper to a low-grade metal, achieving the famous reddish tint. That should not affect the value and cost of the product. When buying, it’s not only possible, but also necessary ask a consultant for a quality certificate products. If the item is purchased privately, it’s worth to secure the transaction by contacting a jeweler for advice, and when it is planned to purchase antique copies - to museum experts.

The purity of the alloy is determined precisely by softness and suppleness. Ancient coins were tested for a tooth, and if there were teeth marks on them, this testified to their authenticity.

To answer the question about the cost of pure gold products, it remains to be seen which particular sample is considered, since pure gold is a rather lengthy concept. He cannot have a sample less than the 916th. Based on the sample, the price tag can be up to 2,500 rubles per gram, taking into account the fact that the cost of the product of the 585th sample ranges from 1,600 rubles per gram.

To determine the price you need to know exactly what sample the alloy has. Today, this term is understood as marking alloys: 916, 958, 980 and 999. This means that a 1 kg bullion contains, for example, 916 grams of gold, and the rest is ligature (copper, nickel). Accordingly, if the ingot is 1 kg, it contains 999 g of gold and only 1 g of other inclusions - at the moment this is the highest standard.

Bank Bars, like the ounces marked with the assay mark, are offered by banks at the same price. In the pawnshops accept scrap gold, usually at a lower price. Jewelry rating conducted not only by the amount of precious metal, but also by the quality of the work performed, by the presence of precious stones or inserts from other metals and so on. Respectively, their retail value may also be different. Wherein in precious metals quotes on the world exchange, gold cannot occupy a position below silver and above platinum or palladium.

Currently, pure gold has limited use. In the circles of Russian jewelers, the most popular alloy is the marking of the 585th test, the 750th is less commonly used. It has great strength, resistance to mechanical damage, oxidation. It retains its original presentation for a long time. There are very few products of the 750th sample in the domestic market. At the same time, pure gold of any kind is in demand in some countries as jewelry precisely at its high cost.

The main industries using pure gold include several areas.

• The electrical industry, more precisely, electronics. Excellent conductivity and corrosion resistance allow the use of alloy in electronic devices to strengthen contacts by gilding.
• Jewelry production. To strengthen products, increase the quality of a valuable metal, and give unusual colors, ligature additives are applied to pure metal.
• Medicine, especially dentistry. Production of crowns, bridges, orthodontic appliances.
• The financial sector. Each country has a gold reserve - ingots of the highest 999th sample. In an unstable economic situation, they are considered the most profitable investment of both the state and individual citizens.
• Aerospace sphere. For the lubrication of certain mechanical parts, coating surfaces inside spacecraft and protecting the cosmonauts from radiation from the inside.
• Sport. For the manufacture of gold medals. Currently, this is not using pure precious metal, but a gilding coating. But the tradition of nibbling the reward is preserved.

Currently gold is a solid and indestructible global financial equivalent. Many world states accumulate their own gold reserves in the event of the collapse of the monetary system based on the dollar and the euro. Thus, pure gold is still considered the main monetary measure.

Look at the features of pure gold in the video.