How can I tell the difference between something that is sold gold and something that is gold plated?

Answer by  jane51 (287)

Gold plated means the item is just dipped into gold and only the outer most layer is gold. Solid gold is made entirely of gold and is much more valuable.

Answer by  winkler294896 (45)

An object that is gold-plated is not as heavy as an object that is solid gold. If the object is very light, it is possibly gold-plated.

Answer by  nekturk (139)

A solid gold item is made entirely out of gold; gold plated means that it is made out of another metal, and it has a thin gold coating on the exterior.

Answer by  Sharyl (340)

This probubly is not the easiest way to find out, but you can take it to a pawn shop and they have some way of testing items they can tell if it is solid gold and also if it is 10, 14 or 18 etc percent gold. They will make a small scatch in the piece.