[Jewelry making - Article 00036] - Re: [Orchid] Buying gold coins

[Randy Smith (PSS TEXAS)]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========


    Hi Kevin, 	I only use gold coins for my work.  When making gold links
    for weaving gold chains (via the Jean Stark method) , you need pure
    gold to start with, called Four Nines, 99.99%. Normally if you buy
    gold wire or sheet, there is about a 30% markup for fabrication
    charges.  For every ounce of gold wire/sheet you buy, you pay in the
    neighborhood of $400 an ounce.  It dosent take long for this to mount
    up.  In fact after 20 ounces you could have saved enough to buy one
    of the best rolling mills available. 	If the gold isnt 99.99%, when
    making chains, the fused links will break.  Jean Stark let me waste a
    whole day doing this, a lesson I'll never forget. <smile---thanks
    Jean>. 	Anyway, to get to my point, I buy Canadian Maple Leafs, 1
    pure ounce of 99.99% gold from a coin dealer in Dallas.  Dallas Gold
    and Silver Exchange.  I don't know of anyone who will give you pure
    gold on a credit card, there isnt much if a markup on pure gold
    coins, in the neighborhood of 5%,  and the credit card charges are
    just about that. 	If you are going to be doing quite a bit of
    business with the dealer, sit down and determine what kind of a
    constant markup he will give you, then you will always know how much
    over the spot price of gold you will have to pay. 	I learned the
    following from Jean, and still haven't found the reason for the
    behavior.  If the gold is 99.99% pure, when heating it on a charcoal
    block, after it cools, it will be perfectly shiney and just as it
    solidifies, it will create a 'hole' in the top.  It will 'suck' in on
    the top and there will be a depression.  Don't know why but it has
    never failed.  I do it on every coin I melt just to make sure its
    pure. 

-randy

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________