Can you melt down gold jewelry to make gold bullion? If so what at what carrot? ?

I find that it is close to impossible to get gold bullion. It is all sold out by the time I get there. Is there a way to create it through a melting process. If so how pure does the gold have to be? 24K? What is gold bullion's metal composition, how pure is it?

Public Comments

1. You can melt it down, but you will be losing value. When you melt it down, silver, nichol and other additives will separate, and you will lose the value of those special metals. Best thing to do is to take your gold and separate it into classes, 10K 12K 14Karot and let the goldsmith buy it from you. I believe 1 carrot = 16 oz. Gold is denser and heavier than steel, by many times.
2. Is it possible? Yes. Is it easy? No. Gold bullion is always 24K gold, .999 fine is the standard for both gold and silver bullion. So you have to refine it, which typically involves corrosive acids and nasty chemicals. Then to melt it you have to heat it to 1,947°F, which is much hotter than your stove or charcoal grill can get. If you don't want to sell it outright to a refiner, you might just hang onto it, it will be worth more by and by. Grandpa
3. No, Gold bullion is 24 karat (pure) and by law, needs the markings of the refinery that made it. Gold jewellery can be melted down into new gold jewellery. This can be done several times before the alloy becomes brittle. White gold can only have this done a couple times, before the nickel content is ruined. If you wish to make bullion out of your gold, send it to a refinery, they will send you back the gold pure in troy ounces. The refinery will either charge you in dollars or in gold. If you wish to make fresh jewellery you need to take your jewellery to a goldsmith, not a jewellery store. (FYI: Pure gold is always yellow, too many idiots have asked me for 24K white gold. Secondly, the melting point of gold (pure or alloyed) is way to high to melt without the proper equipment, do not attempt at home, you will only scorch the alloy.)
4. You shouldn't do this. Rather go to http://Gold.BullionVault.de/#585gold and buy some good delivery bars. It's easier and less frustrating ;-) cheers
5. Pure gold bullion is ... well, 99.9% pure. The problem with melting down gold yourself, is that you have no real way of knowing the purity of the gold, unless you are a skilled metal worker. Also, if you are trying to sell the gold, you can't prove its integrity to anybody. They won't know if the gold is 100%, or if there's a big lead bar on the inside. If you're interested in buying gold, then take a look at this article: http://www.goldintomoney.com/gold-investing/how-and-where-to-buy-gold-online