As the price of gold continues to escalate, an increasing number of entrepreneurs are getting into the gold buying business, seeking to buy gold at low prices and later sell it for higher prices.
Gold is among the most valued metals in the world. For centuries, gold has been strongly associated with concepts of wealth and value, and has served as money in most major world cultures at some point during their development. Today, most major countries no longer use gold as currency, but many keep gold in reserves.
Because of the worldwide economic downturn, gold has risen in value over the past few years, recently hitting the $1,300 per ounce mark. Because of the escalating value, investors large and small have taken serious interest in gold.
Small traders are buying up scrap gold and jewelry to build up their supply of gold. Melting this gold down into gold ingots may be a more convenient method of storing the gold. Gold ingots are bars of gold that are made by melting gold and pouring it into a mold.
If you’d like to melt down gold into ingots, the first thing you need to do is gather up your gold and separate it by caratage. Caratage is the purity of gold. For example 24 carat gold is 99.9 percent pure gold, the maximum purity for gold.
Once you’ve got your gold sorted, you’ll need to place it in a vat or pan. Be sure to remove any gemstones from the gold before you melt it down.
Once that’s done you’ll need to place the pan inside a furnace. The furnace will need to be very hot to get the temperature necessary to melt down gold. Be sure to use proper safety precautions to counter the intense heat radiated by the furnace.
When the gold inside the furnace is melted, you’ll need to pour it into an ingot mold. Ingot molds are made in the shape of a brick. Some refiners will pour the molten gold into a transfer container before pouring it into the ingot, but if you only have a little gold to mold, you won’t need to do this.
Once the gold has been poured into the mold, you’ll need to cool it. There are two main methods of doing this, letting the gold air dry or by dropping the mold into a vat of water.
When the gold cools, you’ll need to remove the bar from the mold and clean it using a towel designed for this purpose. The gold bar is still soft and malleable at this point, so be careful.
While the gold is still soft, you’ll want to stamp the gold with a mark showing its purity and weight. This is necessary if you want to trade it. It’s very important to stamp your bars accurately, as the federal government can dish out severe penalties for misrepresenting gold weight and purity.
