I love that 1/2 franc. great buy on your part! and i like to go to a bunch of garage sales too to see if i could find some gold in the cheap jewelry bins. Found two solid gold bracelets last year and only payed $2 each. One was 14k and the other was higher.
If I found a 14K gold bracelet priced at $5, the alarm bells would be pealing of it likely be a stolen and fenced item. The same for the coins, the silver melt value is in excess of the price you state you paid. There also exist the possibility with the bracelet that it is stamped 14K but really isn't - which is why when you sell scrap gold they test it on a touch stone or with a spectralysis device.
I tested mine by biting them. It left dents. And people often dont know the value of what they're selling at garage sales around here so they either price extremelly low or extremelly high.
It was real, it was acid tested before being purchased. I bought $50 worth of 10k jewelry last weekend for $2. Last year I scored $250 worth of gold rings for $2. Some people just don't know what they have. One guy thought one ring came out of a bubblegum machine. Any sterling silver I find cheap gets put away, saving it to cash in to help move.
First off, $50 melt in 10k jewelry would be about 3 grams, give or take. Most jewelers wouldn't buy that since the assay costs would exceed the value of the net yield. As for $250 of gold rings for $2... you probably bought stolen goods. 14k gold *shouldn't* leave bite marks... I think up to 18k (depending on the alloy mix) could still crack your teeth.
I rechecked. One was 0.840 grams of 10K gold. The other was 2.964 grams of 14k gold. the one that dented was the 10k but i think it's because the links of the bracelet are so thin. and i have the tags still on them. I payed $0.50 for the 10k and $2.00 for the 14k.
