✅ SOLVED Found a 14k gold chain, but I think its fake. Help!

[FreeBirdTim]

Found a 14k gold chain, but I think it's fake. Help!

I found a 20" "gold" chain today, but I think it's fake. It is stamped "14k" on one end of the chain, but not on the other end. There is no hallmark or anything else to identify the manufacturer.

I foolishly tested a small section with sliver acid solution and it dissolved the "gold" off of the chain. It's a copper color in that section now.

I found it about four inches down and I got a strong nickel reading, but it hopped over to the pull tab reading once in awhile. Is that correct for gold?

It looked kind of grungy out of the ground. It cleaned up a little bit with soap and water, but it just doesn't look all that shiny to me. Shouldn't it be shiny, even if it was in the ground for years?

Here's a photo of the chain. Throw some opinions at me. Thanks!

 

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[DizzyDigger]

Take it to a jeweler and have them test it, but it looks right to me.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

That's probably my best bet. It does seem to be well made, even though the clasp is missing. So maybe it is real gold. It weighs exactly 1/2 of an ounce, so that would be a really good score!

I've been ignoring the nickel reading on my metal detector lately because I end up with a pocketful of pull tabs. I guess I'm going to have to dig everything from now on, just to be safe.

 

[doublet2a]

I found a chain like that once, looked like gold, heavy like gold and it stuck to a magnet!!!

Tim

 

[FreeBirdTim]

It's not magnetic with an normal magnet, but it's slightly magnetic with a very strong magnet. The strong magnet won't pick it up, though.

I cut a link in half and it seems to be gold color all the way through. Not sure if that's good or bad! Maybe it's brass.

My big question is the reading on my detector. Does gold come up under nickel and the pull tab reading on the Ace 250?

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Update: It's only gold plated! Took it to a jewelry shop and the guy could tell just by looking at it. Sure was nice of someone to stamp a gold plated chain "14k"!

No big deal. I was pretty sure it was fake because it wasn't very shiny out of the ground. Thanks for the input, guys.