The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1893-07-14
OLD GOLD.
Interesting Facts About Its Pur;l.a g az



Old gold is very rich. not only il
monetary value but in strange and in
.teresting suggestions. Most Of it l., il
the shape of dilapidated jcwclry.
worn band Of gold comes in. 1t was
once wedding ring. and must have
been held as precious beyond all price
by the bride who wore it during her
honeymoon. In after years, when it
was worn and worn until it was almost
worn away, it must have fuctuated
many times in value.
The ring does not say whether its
owner was happy or not The link OF
| gold may have bound together loving
! husband and wife, or it may have con-
nected a widow with heaven, or with
the GOODNESS of steel it may have held
| her like a galley slave chained to a
| companion that she hated.
The ring tells none Of these things
| 1t is Old-fashioned and worn and that
! shows that it has seen long service
| 'Perhaps it was worn by Strangers be
ing superseded by another wedding
ring, or, perhaps, it was a precious
family heirloom handed down from
generation to generation.
The purchaser rubs it on a smooth
stone until it leaves a yellow mark A
drop Of nitric or compound acid discOl-
OrS this mark so that the expert assay
or can tell the purity OF the gold. Then
it is carefully weighed and paid for at
the rate, perhaps, of three or four cents
"a karat.
All sorts Of curious things are sold
for the precious metal they contain
Old watches that are broken beyond
repair, old seal rings and rings that
were once set with cleaning gems A
broken lOcket once contained a minia-
ture and probably holds the secret of
"a romance. A brooch is made of the
light-colored gold of over one hundred
years ago, and still holds a lock of
somebody's hair. 1t was bought. hair
and all, and will go into the melting
pot with its story untold.
Some of the gold comes already
melted into Jumps, some OF it is the
gold filling of teeth and dentists
scraps and some of it is in the form of
old plates, with artificial teeth still
sticking to them
Assayers say that old gold is very
scarce and they have had hard work to
collect the amount needed in their bust
ness. The old jewelry and scraps are
melted down and refined, then rolled
out into gold The gold foil is bought
by dentists and put into the teeth of
their customers, and in most cases goes
back into the ground with the owner
of the teeth when he dies Some day.
when Boston is a bowling wilderness,
an enterprising miner will wash out the |
earth Of the cemeteries and reap rich |
h harvest.
But that is matter of speculation. |
1t is a matter of fact that one firm of |
refners here in Boston uses up two |
thousand five hundred dollars worth |
of old gold every week. and lately has
been compelled to buy coin to exc
out the supply needed for mechanical
purposes.
great deal of the .jewelry is soAered
to brass, lead, and other metals. The
quality Of the gold is tested Just as in
the case Of solid jewelry. and the stuff
is weighed in bulk and paid for at the
rate esta blished by averaging the re-
suits of different weighings Even
plated jeWelry is taken, but when pure
forced to draw the line
A good deal of the old silver is sold
IN the same way, but instead Of being
in demand it is drug on the market
1t IS not so interesting, either, as it usu-
ally comes in the shape Of spoons.
knives and watches. When the dealers
get more silver than they can use they
send it to the government mint as
quickly as they can.
Not a little platinum is sold as old met
ii, and usually comes in the form of bits
IF wire and scraps from broken incan-
descent lamps 1t is now largely used
oy dentists, but it is sent to New York
or treatment, as it can only be melted
by means Of compound blow pipe,
md there is no place in Boston where
hat is dOne.-Boston Herald.