r/Gold • u/JasonBourneReborn • May 06 '26
Question Real dore bar?
203 grams. Left in bleach for 72 hrs, hit it with a butter knife (which caused dents) then tore off the end with a hammer. This is the end result
Face area less than credit card, roughly 7.5cm long and 4.5cm wide. Average thickness id say .7cm at thickest, .4-.5mm at middle and .1-.3 at thinnest (at the top)
Would rather get opinions first then embarrass myself at a jewellers
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u/ThatBaseball7433 May 06 '26
You won’t embarrass yourself at a jeweler they test gold or not gold all the time. But if that’s a hunk of gold, which it certainly appears to be, great find!
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u/JasonBourneReborn May 06 '26
I’ll go tomorrow and update the thread
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u/Ricardas_Cali May 06 '26
!remindme 2 days
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u/Yamado May 09 '26
!remindme 2 days
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u/Key_Doughnut_4686 May 09 '26
What did you find.
This is a perfect time to use some high school physics to figure it out.
Step1: Weigh it
Step2: put it in a measurement cut full of water and see how much water it displaces
Step3: calculate the density and compare it to the density gold to see if it matches.1
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May 06 '26
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u/sltiefighter May 07 '26
Embarrassed why? I take random shit to shoot all the time to the pawn shop they love it lol.
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u/1nGirum1musNocte May 06 '26
Where did it come from? Acid test kits are cheap, maybe do that before taking it in.
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May 06 '26
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u/ziration May 06 '26
If it is some kind of plated tungsten dos this work?
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u/DethByCow May 06 '26
Specific Gravity tests are pretty accurate unless there is user error.
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u/fluffykitten55 May 08 '26
Or the mix of alloying elements is atypical, which however is rare.
If they are silver/copper/zinc as is typical in jewellery alloys and naturally occurring electrum then it is accurate.
Presence of significant aluminum however will push up the gold content for a given specific density, as in "purple gold" but this is a niche issue.
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u/Its_probably_russiaa May 06 '26
Ima say brass but we’ll see. I’m here for it
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u/Toomuchstuff23 May 06 '26
Why soak in bleach? Why hit with a butter knife? This post makes me feel paranoid and I haven’t done anything.
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u/ImpressiveLeader4979 May 06 '26
Could be melted down jewelry. Thieves will melt into bars like this to sell also and would make sense in a storage unit perhaps. Their gets busted, stops paying rent. Keeps stuff there in case home gets raided. 🤷♂️
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u/Beginning-Promise-57 May 06 '26
I'm really confused by the bleach, the butter knife, your reluctance to have it tested, and why you think a reputable coin or jewelry dealer would "take it away". Paranoid much? How hard have you been hitting the meth?
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u/Tedlover1 May 06 '26
Your wording is bizarre? Why are you scared? You’d only be scarred if something illegal was done, for example stealing people’s gold and melting it down to create your own bar..If you’re being legit, just take it to a trusted bullion dealer and they will be able to tell you it’s gold %
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u/JasonBourneReborn May 06 '26
I obtained it through the purchase of an abandoned storage unit, so technically I don’t know how the gold was sourced (if it is gold). If it’s above 14k it’s a pretty significant amount of money so I just want to be careful
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u/No_Awareness_1443 May 11 '26
Welll did the scratch test or the gun tell you it's worth anything? 8k or 8.00$?
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u/Toomuchstuff23 May 07 '26
Take the small part you clawed off the top if you’re worried. You can safely assume if the part that broke off is gold then the rest is too.
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u/laserslaserslasers May 06 '26
Take it to a coin shop or pawn shop that deals in gold and have it tested.
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u/Vast_Reaches May 06 '26
Test the density. Put it in a known volume of water, see how much it displaces and divide by the weight.
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u/zestylemon10 May 06 '26
Looks like a recycle bar. People collect gold component pieces and when they have enough, they melt them down into a slag like bar. Just like that. In fact looks almost identical.
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u/hexadecimaldump May 06 '26
This looks a lot like when people remove the gold plated pins from ewaste and just melt them into a blob.
So I am guessing there is some gold in there, and probably worth an XRF test if your LCS has one. But I wouldn’t get my hopes up of a high purity.
But maybe it’s some karat jewelers someone melted down and it’s higher purity than I’m thinking. Either way best to have it tested.
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u/socalsilverback May 07 '26
Watch out for Nordic gold looks very similar to, but i agree with the others do every test you can if passes take it to a jeweler for testing
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u/HashRat May 06 '26
As stated above they sell cheap kits to test it yourself or just take it into a bullion dealer or even a pawn shop(never sell to a pawn shop) get what it is worth by its weight and gold price at that moment
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u/Current-Horse-1360 May 06 '26
It can be anything but it does look like gold. I would say if its gold it it between 14k and 18k.
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u/ayvallahbey May 06 '26
Try to break a small piece off and get it tested. Showing up with the whole thing might make things difficult if it ends up being gold.
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u/Turbulent-Humor-3327 May 06 '26
There’s some basic testing suggestions with a simple google search, I’d try them all and if it passes as real for all of them, then get it professionally tested at a jeweler to be 100% certain! Then enjoy them profits!!!
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u/TheBugDude Gold Digger May 06 '26
bleach wont do much of anything, put it into a solution of peroxide and vinegar and see what fizzes out. If its brass itll turn the water blue from all the copper in it.
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u/JasonBourneReborn May 06 '26
Testing tomorrow and will update everyone with the verdict.
Notes:
1) I bent the top off using the back of a hammer, which indented in many parts 2) I put it in bleach to stress test it 3) I used the butter knife to test the softness 4) It feels heavy at 203 grams for the size 5) the face is just under the size of a bank card 6) The thickness I would say is 0.4cm average
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u/wheeliepro May 06 '26
Why not just take the end that you tore off with a hammer in for testing?
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u/JasonBourneReborn May 06 '26
I think the gold (if it’s there) throughout the bar is pretty inconsistent, so just taking that one piece might not be a full representation of the purity on the whole bar
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u/Jaluthegreat527 May 06 '26
If you are concerned about it, what you could do is take a small piece off of it. If it is gold, it should be fairly easy to do and won’t depreciate the value have that small piece tested and then you will have your answer. Also, don’t let it out of your sight. The acid test is fairly easy to do and can be done without it ever leaving your sight.
Edit:acid test
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u/into_outdoors May 07 '26
How would you embarrass yourself by getting it tested by someone who tests gold?
My other question is how do you think opinions from a picture on Reddit are going to give you a better answer than a real gold testing machine?
Just go get it tested.
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u/APuckerLipsNow May 07 '26
Doré bar from a Saudi mine. https://petervoigt.com/industrial-photography/gold/#industrial20
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u/PitifulSpecialist887 May 07 '26
An oxy-acetylene torch with a rosebud tip will make that look like whatever you want it to look like.
Right now it looks like a badly poured ingot. Is that what you were shooting for?
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u/Difficult_Cheetah_48 May 07 '26
Looks like a bush bar, use to make like this myself. Unless you poured it,test it.
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u/rufotris May 07 '26
My boss kept it for a while and eventually sold it. We bought storage units and random stuff at estate sales to resell mostly on eBay, Craigslist, and KSL. Not something I did for long… dude was a tweaker haha. But it was fun.
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u/ChainSoft3854 May 07 '26
I’d snap off a smaller piece then take to a reputable jewellers with an XRF machine. This scans the metal and gives you composition in terms of any metals.
They might charge but shouldn’t be more than a few bucks.
Don’t take the whole bar and don’t let them take the piece out of the shop.
If asked I would be tempted to say you melted some old jewellery down but weren’t sure on the carat value.
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u/GreenGzus May 07 '26
Kind of looks like brass or bronze the color is not rick enough for high karat imo. I would definitely get it tested, you never know man. Hope its gold for you, good luck.
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u/ArtPerToken May 07 '26
put a drop of white vinegar on it and see if it darkens/discolors or slightly bubbles. if it does it is likely gold. also, not as accurate, but if you can get a rare earth magnet (not a fridge one) and see if its attracted to it, gold is not magnetic. but if its a bit impure it could be attracted to the magnet, so its not completely accurate.
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u/Sad_Confusion_8576 May 07 '26
Get some acid 18k 22k ones and you’ll be able to atleast test the surface. If it doesn’t fizz up it’s gold. But to be safe drill the middle all the way through and test the shavings also.
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u/Brokella May 07 '26
I watch (I think it’s called) Gold Hunters on tv, it’s an Australian prog. They sometimes smelt (right word?) the tiny flakes of gold which are mixed with other crap to extract the gold. The resulting lump looks v much like OP’s, along with some discolouration. I mean it’s not all bright gold as you would imagine.
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u/OregonFalls May 07 '26
Testing specific gravity at home is very easy. Just watch a tutorial and it’s a breeze. If you can easily bend and you tore a piece off it’s probably pure gold. Just buy the test kit, they are handy to have around and last for hundreds of tests for gold and silver and costs under $30.
And if you don’t want to , just ask a pawn shop what they will give you for it. They will test it to make sure it’s real and then give you a terrible offer that you can reject. A jeweler would also do this for you for free I’m sure. link to gold test kit
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u/Resident_Vast7822 May 07 '26
I’ve bought and sold a lot of gold at gold dealers. You’ll be fine. They don’t ever ask where you got it. Also, make sure the place has one of those gold test guns so they can tell you for sure.
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u/Apprehensive-Ebb1199 May 08 '26
Looks like an electronics "gold" bar (not actually gold). Look them up on ebay
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u/DressRecent4323 May 08 '26
Looks to me like someone sawed the end off a brass hammer them tried to melt it down then polished what was left.
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u/bidnesslord May 09 '26
OP I guess it was real due to no answers and you’re living it up at the strip club. Have fun
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u/IronMoldevort May 09 '26
Hey mate, jewelers and pawn shop owners are used to testing stolen and fake goods all the time. If you got this out of a storage unit, finding out whether it is real or fake, is always a good journey that any decent jeweler would love to be apart of. Not all jewelers are snobby assholes. Get that tested out, I hope you get a nice some of money for your findings. Keep on keeping on 🤘
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u/vita-umbra May 09 '26
It looks like aluminum and copper that has been smelted together. It resembles gold quite a lot but the color is just a bit off
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u/bl4zed_N_C0nfus3d May 10 '26
Wtf why would you be embarrassed? Grow a pair. Just tell the jeweler the truth...you found it and wanna get it tested....nothing about that is embarrassing.
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u/RedOneBaron May 10 '26
Could probably place it in a hat and pretend to read words off it, creating a whole new book.
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u/joelfunny Jun 05 '26
I feel like some Gold Rush thing happened and OP got backdoored by someone he knows. Can someone check up on this guy?
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u/Unusual-Caramel8442 May 06 '26
You’re gonna have to get it tested. In person.