How to remove the gilt from silver?

Jewelry and valuable coins are made from various precious metals. Sometimes, in order to transform the appearance of the product, it becomes necessary to remove the gilding on silver coins. The answer to the question of how to remove the gilding from silver, you will get in this article.

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How to remove gold plated from silver?

The simplest way to cope with the goal is with the help of professionals. To do this, just bring your product to the jewelry shop. But you do not always want to waste your time searching for a competent and honest specialist, and the question arises how to remove gilding at home.

Two methods can be used for this procedure:

1. Chemical.
2. Electrochemical.

Important! Before you give preference to a specific technology, see the list of tools suitable for this case and their impact on jewelry or coins. So you will avoid an unpleasant situation when the thing will be hopelessly corrupted.

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Chemical method

This method involves removing gold with the help of "royal vodka".This is a very delicate operation and the process boils down to removing the gilding from silver without damaging the metal in the base. Therefore, with this method, parts of the coin, on which silver is shining, must be pre-covered with asphalt.

Important! Before processing, all coins must be cleaned to a shine.

The instruction of this method is as follows:

1. Heated coin put in porcelain cup with "royal vodka".
2. Preheat a cup with a coin on a sand bath( not to a boil).With this treatment, the gilding begins to slowly descend.
3. As soon as the dark spots of the formed silver chloride begin to appear, get the coins.
4. Wash products thoroughly in water.
5. For a short time, immerse the coins in a solution of ammonia( to remove the formation of chloride chloride).
6. Remove the gilding residue with a brush.

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Electrochemical method

In electroprocessing, the coin is placed in an electrolytic bath( as an anode).The cathode in this case is a copper plate. The electrolyte is made from a 7% solution of potassium cyanide in distilled water. After processing the coins must be removed from the bath, rinsed under a stream of water, and remove the gilding remnants with a brush.

Important! As in the first method, and in the second, only part of the gilding will be removed.

To remove gilding at home, you need to purchase:

• theomovine( in the microchip sales store);
• battery electrolyte;
• power supply with variable polarity and voltage;
• distilled water.

To process the coin, follow these steps:

1. Prepare the electrolyte in the proportions provided for this operation.
2. Prepare a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid.
3. Place the coin on the anode.
4. The cathode is made of stainless steel( or titanium).
5. Apply a voltage of 3.5-4 V.

Important! The bank should be tightly closed, since hydrogen sulphide will be released during processing, and it is harmful to health.

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Remove gold from other items

If you want to establish a gold mining business at home, we will offer you several options for removing precious metal from the coating of various items.

Sometimes it is required to remove a layer of expensive metal from various gilded objects and get back valuable material.

Important! Gold can be extracted from microcircuits, transistors, connectors and other radio components, and even sim cards.

Why gold is used to cover radio parts, and not silver, because in terms of electrical conductivity, silver metal has a lower electrical resistivity? The fact is that silver eventually oxidizes. Gold has inert properties, which means that it does not oxidize when interacting with atmospheric air and does not enter into a chemical reaction with other elements of the Mendeleyev system.

Important! Gold is used in the manufacture of electrical contacts, as it is considered more reliable and durable.

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Extraction of gold from radio components by the oxidant

The etching method( chemical) is based on the inertness of gold. A precious metal can react with halogens only when heated. Therefore, to dissolve gold, a very strong metal oxidizer is needed. This is the "Royal vodka".

Cooking "Tsarskoy Vodka"

"Tsarskoy Vodka" can be prepared at home. For this, it is necessary: ​​

• concentrated nitric acid;
• concentrated hydrochloric acid.

Take them in a ratio of 1 to 3 in volume. "Royal vodka" has a strong smell of chlorine and nitrogen dioxide. The self-prepared liquid has no color, but soon acquires an orange color. The interaction of concentrated acids forms a mixture of highly active products, which make "Royal Vodka" one of the most powerful oxidants.

Important! It is better to prepare the mixture immediately before its use, as during storage royal vodka decomposes with the formation of gaseous products. In addition, when stored, the product loses its oxidizing ability.

The principle of the

process The etching process is as follows: the gold-plated elements of the radio components are eaten out with acid. As a result, all metals, except inert gold, dissolve in the acid. The precious metal will simply float in an acid solution in the form of a thin gold foil, and in order to assemble it, it is necessary to gently filter the solution through the tissue.

Important! To filter, you can not use medical gauze, since it has large holes.

Remove the gilding

Take the gold out as follows:

1. Carefully separate the gold-plated elements from all the rest. For example, pull the pins out of the connectors, and the metal caps with a nibble cutter and remove. Remember that harvesting raw materials is a laborious process.
2. Prepare a container of glass, stone or porcelain.
3. Now you should prepare "Royal vodka".Mix salt and nitric acid. Get a strong oxidizer - nitrosyl chloride, which interacts with gold.
4. Pour the prepared mixture into a container.
5. Throw the item in nitrosyl chloride, wait a little. Now you should get, so called, "chlorine gold".
6. For the isolation of pure gold, it is necessary to add sodium sulfide( sodium sulphide) to the resulting solution.
7. The result is gold, which still needs to be collected. To do this, separate the spoiled radio parts from the test tube with gold.
8. The resulting yellow powder of precious metal is filtered from the rest of the solution with a dense fabric.
9. Rinse, dry, fuse the resulting gold dust into the gold ingot.

Important! The production of gold by this method has one drawback - the precious metal is extracted with losses, as well as with an admixture of other elements, so the gold obtained must be further cleaned.

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Extraction of gold by electrolysis method

For this method, you will need:

• container of heat-resistant glass or porcelain;
• 50 g of potassium cyanide;
• 1 liter of distilled water;
• as a cathode - iron or silver plates.

Proceed as follows:

1. Clean the gilded objects to a positive electrode( anode).
2. Dip into the bath with the prepared solution.
3. Turn on direct current from 12 to 15 V.

Important! At a voltage of 12-15 volts, gold on the cathode will settle in a film. At higher - in the form of a sponge.

1. Gold deposited on the cathode is scraped off.

Important! A good result can be obtained if concentrated sulfuric acid is used as the electrolyte, and a lead plate for the cathode. The voltage should be 3-4 V.

Compared with the chemical, the electrolytic method of removing the gilding is more simple and effective, since with it more gold is removed.

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Useful tips:

• Gold can also be removed from other gilded objects( watches, interior items, etc.), but if the items are varnished, then rinse the protective layer with alcohol, ether( acetone) or dip it into concentratedSulfuric acid, which removes the organic parts of the varnish.
• More details about radio components and the content of gold in them can be found in passports for radio equipment.
• Handle all work with chemicals with caution, using protective equipment.

We hope that thanks to our advice and information received, you will be more respectful of things that contain gold, and if necessary, you can get it at home.