So you have started to go through your jewelry box to see if you have some gold to possibly sell and make a profit off of. The first thing you must do is figure out is it gold or just gold plated. Gold plated is not going to make you anything, but if it is solid gold you've got something good.

Let's first start by actually stating the difference between gold plated jewelry and sold gold jewelry. Gold plated jewelry is composed of a non-gold metal that is covered with a film of gold. As far as solid gold jewelry goes, it is an item that has a gold alloy throughout it.

In order to distinguish if you have jewelry that is plated, you can look to see if it has markings that indicate so. These marking are usually on the inside clasp. Jewelry that is gold plated is usually marked HGP, GEP, GP or HGE. If your jewelry has one of those listed markings it is gold plated. If there are no markings you just have to have jewelry inspect it.

Acid testing can also help to distinguish if you have an item that is solid gold or gold plated. By acid testing it will change color. The color will indicate what it is. This testing is mainly used to tell how many karats your gold is.

Gold plated jewelry can also be spotted based upon its color. Most plated jewelry is plated in 24 karat gold which means it is extremely yellow in color. Jewelry that contains gold throughout cannot be pure solid 24 karat gold because it could easily be flawed. That is why pieces that contain gold throughout are made with a gold alloy.

You can also look at the surface of the jewelry and see if its tone is even throughout or there is a change in color somewhere: If the gold plating is worn off in some places, the underlying metal will be visible there.

...More at How to Determine If Your Jewelry Is Gold Plated or Solid Gold

From this information you should now be able to tell if your jewelry is solid gold or not. If your jewelry is solid gold then you should have no problem when selling it for the gold value and getting some good money back.