How to buy gold nuggets without getting ripped off!

If you are new to buying natural gold nuggets or have felt burned from past sellers we hope the following tips on how to safely buy gold nuggets will assist you in the future. You can rest assured that any gold nuggets represented on GoldFeverProspecting.com will be totally natural, never mandmade fakes and all weights and sizes will be disclosed.

1st gold nugget buying tip: Know your gold screen and mesh sizes — Click Gold Mesh Pictures above to Enlarge images.

Nugget sizing info: We are often asked how many pieces per gram or ounce. It is very hard to predict how many pieces there are per gram or ounce as the # of nuggets by weight varies quite a bit per batch. But in general you can expect around 1-2 pieces of gold for 4 mesh, 2-4 pieces of 6 mesh per gram, 7-12 pieces of 8 mesh per gram and around 15-20 per gram for 10 mesh. You can expect many more pieces for smaller 12 (around 20-25), 14-16 (around 30-50 or more) pieces and hundreds for fine gold. These are estimates only. Every batch is very different and each piece of gold is natural and of course therefore unique. Some may be flat and light or rounded and very dense (heavy). If you need any help with sizing just email us — we are always happy to help.

Beware of unscrupulous online gold sellers (especially those who sell only on auction sites like eBay) who enlarge images but fail to show the gold on a standard ruler scale. For gold shown on a ruler be sure to note whether it is on a metric ruler or a standard inch ruler. Yes some sellers will still try to pull that old centimeters vs inches trick!

Also beware of sellers who fail to list the weight in grams of their gold. Gold weights should be listed in grams or grains or troy ounces. Be sure you know the difference between grams and grains. Some unscrupulous sellers will intentionally mislead the public by listing weights with incorrect abbreviations (g is for grams and gr is for grains).

Next, be aware that modern digital cameras and scanners are capable of magnifying even the smallest pieces of gold several times and software programs like Photoshop can alter color hues to distort the true color or purity of the gold. Use common sense when viewing gold nuggets online. If in doubt ask questions! You will find that the shady sellers will often ignore your requests for more information. Always look for a money back guarantee as well. Gold Fever Prospecting offers one and so should all other sellers.

Gold nuggets are valued differently than raw gold and gold in coin form. When evaluating natural gold consider several factors. Gold may be valued on: weight, rarity, physical dimensions, shine, brightness or lustre, purity, origin, and whether the nugget is considered collector or specimen grade.

DETERMINING FAIR VALUE: Gold Weight and Color: for an average quality nugget weight and color are your best bets for determining value. Look for bright and shiny gold — if dark it may contain a high amount of copper or other less minerals and metals. Pure gold looks just as you would expect.

Compare the weight in grams or ounces of the nugget to the current spot price of gold. (There are 31.1 grams per troy oz). Nuggets do fetch more than raw melted gold due to its rarity in nugget form. But avoid paying too high of a premium over spot for average placer nuggets. At the time of this writing (September of 2011, melted down raw gold (spot price) is bouncing around from $1830 to $1900 per ounce. This would make a melted down single gram of raw gold worth about $58-$61 per gram. Quality natural nuggets of good size, purity and color will sell easily for about 10-30% over spot (currently $6 to $15 dollars per gram over spot price). Try to negotiate to buy on the low end of this range if you will be buying in large quantity or will be trying to re-sell your goldnuggets. After a quick search online you will find some gold dealers charging up to $80-100 dollars per gram ($3000+ per ounce!) for below average quality placer gold. Worse, this gold is in many cases no larger than flake or flour gold dust and really should have been melted down in the first place. Avoid these sellers like the plague!

/>Gold Spot Price (1 year chart) courtesy of Kitco.com

Will gold make new highs again? Many are claiming we will see $2500 per ounce in the future because of market and political uncertainty coupled with increased demand — but we’d settle for $2000. -) Don’t forget to look at the longer term 5 year chart below too. We can barely remember the days when gold was at and below $270 an ounce.

Nugget buying tips continued:

Look for better than average quality nuggets in reasonable sizes, weights and at fair prices. We have it so it is out there!

Gold Weight:

Remember, gold weight is most often listed in troy and metric values. The weight of gold can be measured in troy ounces, grams, or in penny weight. See chart below.

Key weights to keep in mind:

1 oz. (troy) = 31.10 g (31.1 grams)

1 oz. (troy) = 20 dwt (20 penny weight)

1.55 grams = 1 dwt (1 penny weight)

1.0 grams = 15.43 gr (15.43 grains)

Be sure you know the difference between a gram and a grain! Some unscrupulous sellers will intentionally mislead you by listing weights incorrectly with common abbreviations (g is for grams and gr is for grains). If you see a 10gr nugget selling for $370 on eBay watch out — it should be more like $23.00! 10 GRAINS is equal to just 0.479 GRAMS. Remember it takes 15.43 grains (gr) to make just one gram (g) of gold. And there are 31.1 grams to one troy ounce.

/> 5 year price chart of raw melted gold (spot price) Nuggets always sell for a premium over this price.

Chart notes. Gold seems to have solid support in the 1200 range. Many gold investors look for buying opportunities as gold bounces off of tested support levels.

Weight Conversion Tables