The carat (abbreviation ct or kt) is a measure of the purity of gold alloys, 24-carat being pure gold. The carat system is increasingly being complemented or superseded by the millesimal fineness system, in which the purity of precious metals is denoted by parts per thousand of pure metal in the alloy.

Where did such an unusual unit of purity come from?

The word carat is derived from the Greek kerátion (κεράτιoν), “fruit of the carob”. Carob seeds were used as weights on precision scales because of their reputation for having a uniform weight. (However, a 2006 study by Lindsay Turnbull and others found this not to be the case). This was not the only reason. It is said that, in order to keep regional buyers and sellers of gold honest, potential customers could retrieve their own carob seeds on their way to the market, to check the tolerances of the seeds used by the merchant. If this precaution was not taken, the potential customers would be at the mercy of “2 sets of carob seeds”. One set of “heavier” carob seeds would be used when buying from a customer (making the seller’s gold appear to be less). Another, lighter set of carob seeds would be used when the merchant wanted to sell to a customer.

In the distant past, different countries each had their own carat, roughly equivalent to a carob seed. In the mid-16th century, the Karat was adopted as a measure of gold purity. The most common carats used for gold in jewelry making are 9 and 10 carat in New Zealand.

The value of your gold is determined by three things – the weight, the carat and the current market price. Higher carats of jewellery contain more gold (e.g. 18ct has two times more gold than 9ct) and the heavier the total weight means more cash for you.

At Gold Smart you will receive the highest price for your gold and silver because we are transparent about the entire pricing process.

Original Source – http://en.wikipedia.org/

Recent movement in the markets have caught some by surprise. Technically we are in the summer doldrums for gold prices and as gold buyers we have seen many customers pleasantly surprised by the recent strength in rates.

Again it appears that concerns around the Eurpoean Union and in particular the downgrade by Moody’s of Portugal’s credit rating to junk has seen markets respond by moving to investments seen as safe (or safer than government bonds). The New Zealand dollar also responded to the earthquake by moving down against the United States dollar – yet has bounced back to record high levels.

When selling gold it’s naturally a benefit to have higher prices because you get more from your items. This can be hard to time perfectly however as markets move quickly and as the common saying goes, “Bulls move up the stairs and bears go out the window”! The ideal timing really depends on what works for you and the benefit of the cash instead of unwanted jewellery.

The diversity of uses for “gold capital” is always something we find interesting and enjoyable to see the benefits Gold Smart is creating.

Gold Smart customers often ask what happens to the gold and silver that we purchase. Basically our gold buying service is related to our gold refining methods and processes. Almost all of the metal that we buy gets melted, processed and refined to recover the precious value contained in the gold jewellery, bullion and scrap gold.

Gold Smart’s refining service and recovery process begins the moment we view and appraise the items customers bring to us. When we view the jewellery we are looking at things such as hallmarks, quality of manufacturing, makers stamps, colour and texture of the gold, depth of sheen and so on.

The recovery and assay of all material is ultimately determined by melting (at over 1064.18 °C/gold’s melting point), and refining to separate the metal and remove impurities.

Advances in technology mean that we refine gold and silver to very high levels using the most environmentally-friendly methods that we can. The best option to sell gold is Gold Smart today.

Did you know that the Sterling Silverware cutlery sitting in your kitchen draw is a veritable “silver mine”? With the price of silver reaching record levels more and more people are realising that Nana’s old spoons, forks, knives, serving spoons, dishware, candlesticks, tea-service set, tableware, silver flatware and so on is worth it’s weight in silver!

Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% of silver and 7.5% of an “alloy metal”, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has been around for a very long time.

Silverware has been the standard for setting a proper table when hosting guests, however given the rise of sterling silver and other manufacturing methods, it’s become less popular and troublesome to maintain. In the house steads of old, wealthy families would have butlers responsible for maintaining the collection of silver – including cleaning and polishing. In middle-income families a few items of silver or silverplate may have been displayed on a buffet table, cabinet or simply locked away for security.

If you have silver cutlery yourself you’ll know how time consuming it can be to store, use and clean all silverware associated with special functions!

Sterling silver will be appropriately hallmarked with stamps to indicate it’s authenticity. This could include fine silver of 99.9% silver or better (normally only used in the making of bullion bars), Britiannia silver at 95.84% sterling (more pure than sterling), Mexican silver of 95% purity, North American coin silver, German silver of between 80%-90% depending on the manufacturer.

Hallmarks on silver are not to be confused with makers’ marks, which alone are not considered “hallmarks”. A hallmark is simply an indication of the metal content, such marks may read: 800, 813H, 925, 925S, 935, 960, sterling, etc. Symbols on the items may include: an eagle’s head, boar’s head, triple crown, the lion passant (walking lion), etc.

Perhaps you inherited a silver-set from family and you simply cannot bother with the hassle of cleaning and safety storing it – no matter the reason, your silver flatware can net you a pretty penny!

When selling silverware in New Zealand, talk with the silver buying experts at Gold Smart to turn that unwanted dining set into piles of cash!

Silver prices have been doing extremely well lately and outpacing gold in terms of it’s rise. This is making it an excellent time to sell silver in New Zealand with spot silver hitting a new 31-year peak! How long will this rally continue is anyone’s guess with many commentators saying that “silver is overbought” and due for a correction.

Gold Smart will purchase any silver bullion, silver coins, silverware (sterling) and silver jewellery that you want to sell. Examples of silver to sell include 1oz Silver Bullion (including silver Kiwi Ferns, Silver Kookaburras, Australian Silver Koalas, Canadian Silver Maples, Mexican Silver Libertad, Chinese Silver Panda, American Silver Eagles, Austrian Silver Philharmonics), 99.99% 1kg Silver Bars (PAMP Suisse, J&M, AGR, NZ Pure Silver, ABC, Perth Mint Silver), old silver coins that have no numismatic or collectors value (including Morgan Dollars, Liberty Head “Barber” half-dollars, some quarters, dimes and nickels, Crowns, Half Crowns, Florins, Shillings, Six Pences, Three Pences).

Silver prices have reached record-levels making now a great time to sell silver for cash to Gold Smart in New Zealand.

We are Gold AND Silver buyers!

The best feedback we can get at Gold Smart comes from customers that sell gold to us. Often these customers are smart and have shopped around a few dealers to get prices for their unwanted items. Two recent sellers had this to say…

From Murray in Auckland - “Thanks so much to Goldsmart who I called recently to facilitate a quote for the sale of my no longer in use wedding ring. They were fantastic and informative and upon me mentioning I would like to shop around suggested I gather quotes and call them with the weight and carat of the ring to see how the prices compared. The next morning I visited a franchise in a popular shopping mall and got the ring weighed and valued and was underwhelmed with what was offered. I was also underwhelmed with the aggressive nature of the attendant trying to persuade me to sell it on the spot. I returned home (with my ring) and called Goldsmart who immediately offered me a price that was 68% more than I had been offered earlier in the day. I was invited to stop by Goldsmart and was met by Anita and her colleague who then wrote me a cash cheque. The Goldsmart team are very professional and I was satisfied that I hadn’t just given my ring away, after all, even though I no longer had use for it, there is still emotional attachment and it would have severely devalued that (if that makes sense) to have let it go so cheaply. I would recommend anyone go to Goldsmart to sell their gold, they conduct their business with integrity and respect, which was such a contrast to the franchise I had originally dealt with, who seemed to be blatantly profiteering from peoples misfortune.”

From Robin – “Just a quick note to say I shopped around for months before deciding to sell my gold to you. I was first taken with your website which seemed to promise a more professional and respectful approach in comparison to many others I’d tried which implied the seller was desperate to acquire cash as the sole motive for selling – which of course isn’t true. I got quotes from three places on the same day and earlier and all were well below your quote which you fully honoured when I called to sell. Many thanks for a professional, friendly and efficient transaction.”

Save yourself the time, sell your gold to Gold Smart!

We are humbled to receive such warm reviews from our customers – it’s rewarding to provide the best services and incredible rates to Kiwis around New Zealand.