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How to Identify Real Gold vs. Plated Costume Pieces During a House Clearance

Sorting through old tin boxes, dresser drawers, and long-forgotten containers during a house clearance can be completely overwhelming. Most British homes have a "Drawer of Doom": a collection of tangled fine chains, single missing earrings, broken bracelets, and historic coins accumulated over time.

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How to Identify Real Gold

Sorting through old tin boxes, dresser drawers, and long-forgotten containers during a house clearance can be completely overwhelming. Most British homes have a “Drawer of Doom”: a collection of tangled fine chains, single missing earrings, broken bracelets, and historic coins accumulated over time.

When families get together to help downsize or simply move on to the next chapter, the biggest hurdle is a lack of certainty. Is this heavy yellow metal bracelet a valuable family asset, or is it simply a cheap piece of copper-based costume jewellery?

Anxiety about getting cheated by high street exchange shops or looking silly by bringing fake items to a professional valuer often keeps these boxes hidden away. But with a little insider knowledge and a few quick tips, you and your family can easily separate precious metal wealth from base costume metal.

Here is exactly how to verify what you hold…

Step 1: Check for the Three Vital Visual Signs

Before testing the structural properties of the metal, sit down with your family at a brightly lit table to sort the collection visually.

Do not spend hours untangling knotted necklaces or worry about missing clasps. Established buyers assess items purely by weight and fine precious metal content, meaning broken scrap gold commands the exact same price per gram as perfect pieces.

Look closely for these three telling indicators:

  • Locate the Hallmark:Use a standard magnifying glass or your smartphone camera to zoom in on structural junctions, internal ring bands, and necklace clasps. Traditional British hallmarks indicate exact purity decimals (such as 375 for 9ct, 585 for 14ct, 750 for 18ct, and 916 or 22ct for traditional high-purity Asian gold).
  • Identify Plating Stamps:Look carefully for specific lettering that exposes costume plating. Stamps like GP (Gold Plated), GF (Gold Filled), GE (Gold Electroplated), or HGE (Heavy Gold Electroplated) prove that the item is a base copper or brass core covered in a micro-thin layer of gold that cannot be salvaged as scrap.
  • Inspect Areas of Heavy Wear:Examine links, edges, and corners where the metal rubs against the skin. If you see green, silver, or coppery undertones bleeding through the outer yellow layer, the item is likely plated costume wear. Real, solid precious gold maintains its true colour all the way through the metal structure.

Step 2: The Two Safe Home Tests Your Family Can Do

If visual checks are inconclusive, your family can perform two highly reliable physical tests using basic household items.

The Household Magnet Test

Pure gold, fine silver, and copper are completely non-magnetic precious metals. Grab a strong fridge magnet or a kitchen tool magnet and hold it directly against the item.

If the jewellery item snaps firmly to the magnet, it proves the piece has an iron, steel, or nickel core hidden beneath a decorative layer of plating. If the item shows zero attraction, it passes the first major test for solid gold legitimacy.

The Weight and Density Check

Base metals feel noticeably light and hollow for their size. Gold is an incredibly dense, heavy precious metal.

If a vintage chain or chunky signet ring feels substantially heavier in your palm than a modern retail equivalent, its physical density points toward authentic gold purity.

Step 3: Avoid High Street Tricks and Travelling Valuers

Once you have sorted the collection into potential real gold and verified costume pieces, you must choose a secure liquidation partner. This is where many homeowners lose significant value.

Travelling pop-up antique valuers, local library events, and even some high street jewellers frequently exploit sellers by advertising global “spot prices”. Be aware that the raw spot price is an international trading index. It is never the cash sum placed in your hand.

What you get paid: Lois vs High Street

Live estimates using today's gold price. Lois Bullion (94.5%) vs a typical high-street buyer (70%).

Typical item Average weight Gold purity Lois Bullion (94.5%) Typical buyer (70%) Lois advantage
Heavy curb chain 50g 9ct £1,700.00
We pay today
£1,259.26
Typical buyer pays
+£440.74
Extra you receive
Luxury watch 30g 18ct £2,040.00
We pay today
£1,511.11
Typical buyer pays
+£528.89
Extra you receive
Wedding band 5g 18ct £340.00
We pay today
£251.85
Typical buyer pays
+£88.15
Extra you receive
Asian gold bangle 20g 22ct £1,662.20
We pay today
£1,231.26
Typical buyer pays
+£430.94
Extra you receive
Heavy curb chain

Heavy curb chain

50g 9ct
Lois (94.5%)
£1,700.00
We pay today
Typical (70%)
£1,259.26
Typical buyer pays
Lois advantage
+£440.74
Extra you receive
Luxury watch

Luxury watch

30g 18ct
Lois (94.5%)
£2,040.00
We pay today
Typical (70%)
£1,511.11
Typical buyer pays
Lois advantage
+£528.89
Extra you receive
Wedding band

Wedding band

5g 18ct
Lois (94.5%)
£340.00
We pay today
Typical (70%)
£251.85
Typical buyer pays
Lois advantage
+£88.15
Extra you receive
Asian gold bangle

Asian gold bangle

20g 22ct
Lois (94.5%)
£1,662.20
We pay today
Typical (70%)
£1,231.26
Typical buyer pays
Lois advantage
+£430.94
Extra you receive
Swipe to compare

Note: Typical high-street buyer is shown at 70% for illustration (rates vary).

Lois payouts calculated using the live gold price as of July 16, 2026.

Request a free seller pack Visit our showroom

Unregulated high street buyers use your uncertainty to offer flat rates that average a mere 70% to 80% of live market value. Many will take your family assets “out the back” or use aggressive acid testing off-camera that can easily damage or tarnish family heirlooms.

Lois Bullion operates on full visibility, displaying our real, exact prices live on our online calculator. We pay a market-leading 94.5% of the live spot price with completely free testing and £0 administrative deductions.

Step 4: Access Bank-Grade Security in Birmingham

Carrying a large collection of valuables down a public pavement or into a crowded public shopping centre causes significant personal anxiety for many customers looking to sell their unwanted gold. To protect your safety, Lois Bullion provides a direct, high-security solution.

Drive with your family straight into our permanent head office located in the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter. Our facility features a large, secure, private car park entirely away from public view, allowing you to walk directly from your vehicle into our secure showroom suites.

Your items never leave your presence. We use advanced, non-destructive laboratory XRF laser technology to scan directly through the metal structure. You see the precise purity decimal readout across the counter in real time.

Once verified, the final sum is processed via secure Faster Payments directly into your account within minutes.

If your family lives outside the West Midlands, you or another family member can request a premium postal pack online in under 30 seconds. Put the collection inside the tamper-evident pouch and drop it off at any Post Office counter.

Every package is explicitly tracked and fully insured up to £2,500 through Royal Mail Special Delivery from the moment it leaves your hands. We verify the metal the day it arrives and call you with an honest, zero-obligation offer. If you decline, we post the entire collection back to your home, fully insured, entirely at our own expense.

Clear Your House with Confidence

Downsizing family assets should be an empowering, rewarding journey. By knowing the basics and working with a partner using laboratory-grade transparency, you can turn a dusty drawer of old costume items into direct financial freedom for the people you trust most.

Bring the whole box to our Birmingham showroom or order an insured seller pack online today.

Gold jewellery, hallmarks and testing equipment used to identify real gold and distinguish it from plated jewellery.

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Use our live scrap calculator to estimate your payout, then choose the selling method that suits you best.

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Your free seller pack should arrive within 1 working day. Follow the enclosed instructions to send your items securely.

Once we receive your items, our experts will test and value them, then contact you with an offer.

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How It Works

We will send you a pre-paid envelope with instructions on how to send us your items safely.

How the free seller pack works How the free seller pack works
  • Place your precious metals and jewellery into the pre-paid envelope (insured up to £2,500).
  • Take your pre-paid envelope to the Post Office to send the parcel via Royal Mail Special Delivery. Make sure to get proof of your postage.
  • Once received at Lois our experts will test your items and give you a call or email with the price for your parcel. Once accepted you will be provided with a same day payment.
  • Pre-paid postage fee of £9.00 per pack will be deducted from the final payment.

Visit our Birmingham Jewellery Quarter showroom

Prefer a face-to-face valuation? Visit our Jewellery Quarter showroom for a transparent in-person valuation, secure parking and immediate payment. No appointment needed.

Plan your visit

Secure Jewellery Quarter showroom
Bring valuables to a permanent trading address.
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Park on-site instead of carrying items through busy streets.
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How to Find Our Free Parking

Watch our short guide showing how to find the free customer parking entrance. The entrance is to the left of our showroom, just before Subway and close to the Chamberlain Clock.

Revised 15 July 2026 Published 15 July 2026 Written by Lois Bullion Editorial Team

Best Prices Paid In the UK !

We buy gold, silver & jewellery! At Lois Bullion, we transform your scrap into cash. With the best prices paid in the UK, it's time to dust off those old treasures and give them a new lease on life.

Simply order a FREE seller pack from our website www.lois-bullion.com. It includes a pre-paid insured envelope for up to £2,500 and step-by-step instructions to send your items securely to us.

We've already disbursed over £180 million to our happy clients, and your precious items could be next in line for a generous payout.

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