How to prove the authenticity of gold – and what makes tests superfluous

While the weather is currently rather inhospitable in large parts of Europe, many people are already looking forward to their next holiday in warmer climes, where gold is often for sale at markets and bazaars. To ensure that gold lovers do not later regret an impulse purchase, there are a number of ways to check whether you are actually looking at gold or not. However, very few authenticity tests can determine the exact purity of the piece of jewellery or bar in question. It is even more difficult to determine whether the gold comes from recycled stocks or from a mine, which is particularly important for investors who value sustainable investments.

The best and simplest test methods – from home recipes to expert tests

Unfortunately, the most accurate authenticity tests are reserved for professionals and require expertise as well as technical equipment, such as X-ray fluorescence analysis, the acid test, measurement of electrical conductivity and ultrasound analysis. However, there are also simple home recipes that allow even amateurs to authenticate gold to a certain extent, including a sound test, a weight/size comparison and a water displacement test to determine the specific density. The prerequisite for all these tests, however, is possession of comparable gold bars or coins. You can find an overview of the 12 best test methods here.

An alternative: gold-backed ETCs with a delivery claim

For investors who want to add gold to their portfolio, ETCs – short for exchange-traded commodities – are not only far more cost-efficient than the traditional purchase of bars or coins, they are often backed 100 per cent by physical gold and, in the case of Xetra-Gold for example, also securitise a claim to delivery of gold bars in the amount of the investment. These gold bars fulfil strict quality requirements such as the "Good Delivery" standards of the London Bullion Market Association, and also preferably come from environmentally-friendly recycling stocks. In this case, authenticity tests are guaranteed to be superfluous.