Is There Such at Thing as Gold Alloy?

Recycle and Refine GoldRecycle Precious MetalsSmelting and Refining
Written By Barry Lenson

“Is there such a thing as gold alloy?” a caller asked us recently. He then went on to explain, “I was at a coin collector’s event last month and a rather angry gentlemen told me that there is no such thing as a gold alloy. I didn’t want to get into an argument with him about it, but what’s the story? Is there really no such thing as a gold alloy?”

And the Answer Is . . .

Of course there is such a thing as a gold alloy! Any time additional metals are blended with pure 24 karat gold, the result is a gold alloy.

The confusion comes from the fact that the term “gold alloy” is not generally used. Instead, two other kinds of terms are used to describe gold that has been blended with other metals.

Consideration One: The Karat Rating of the Gold

Pure gold, as we mentioned just above, is called 24K gold. But here is some other information you should have:

  • 18K gold is 75% pure gold

  • 14K gold is 58.3% pure gold

  • 10K gold is 41.7% pure gold

So any of those metals are gold alloys, even though they are not usually called that.

Consideration Two: The Color of the Alloyed Gold

Depending on the metals that are blended with pure gold to create 18K, 14K or another gold alloy, the color of the metal changes. You can mix copper in with pure gold to create pink gold, for example, or mix in zinc and other metals to create bluish or even green gold or mix in zinc and silver and other metals to make white gold.

And to further confuse the way these classifications are used, there is also the fact that pink gold can be 18K or 14K, that white gold can be 18K or even 20K, and so on. The terms that are used to classify gold are confusing. But one thing that is not confusing? The fact that gold is a valuable precious metal. Call us at 800-426-2344 to learn how to get top dollar for your precious gold items and scrap.

We Hope We Have Answered Our Caller’s Question

Is there such a thing as gold alloy? As we stated above, of course there is. The confusion comes from the terminology that is customarily applied to gold.

Barry Lenson
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