gold plated pins/gold fingers

[mseashell]

These questions may have already been answered in the past and I am sorry if so. I went trhough and read but couldn't find it if so. Does anyone know how much gold a pound of assorted plated connector pins will yeld. I know that the thichness of the plating is different on pretty much every pin but just an average would be great. I promise I will not hold anyone responsible for their answers if they are off a little bit:-) I just wonder. A bit of information that I will prob never need, but would like to know. I was told the other day on here about gold finger being 30 micro inches thick of plating. And how it takes 105 inches2 to make a gram. As always Thanks in advance to everyone of u information gods. And happy holidays

[ScrappinRed]

I'm pretty sure it's impossible to answer that question. Not only does each TYPE of connector have a different gold content but the years that the connectors were made, as well as the manufacturer, and the grade of connector all vary in yield as well. You might have better luck on the gold refining forum. I am unaware of a chart anywhere with specific yields per type of connector... Good luck!

[mseashell]

I knew it would be a hard thing to determine. Should I at least get a gram out of a pound. Or would it take like 2 pounds to make a gram.????

[NobleMetalWorks]

Difficult question you are posing.

If the pins were manufactured after 2002, the plating should be almost identical from one manufacturer to the next. Prior to 2002 the gold plating was actually a little heavier. It was the jump in gold prices that caused industry to respond by plating as little gold as possible. So there is variance, but not like you might think. It's not done willy-nilly, there are industry standards that must be followed.

Different types of pins will yield different values. If you have a lb of really thin pins this will yield more than a lb of really thick pins for example.

In the future when you post these types of questions, it's always best to include pictures. If you are asking, without pictures, then all I can do is give you a range of values. To be clear, we are talking about gold pins used in connectors for electronic equipment, not connectors.

The average range for 1 lb might vary between .5 grams all the way to just over 2.0 grams. Certain types of pins will yield a lot more depending on the age, and what the pins were plated for, for example military grade pins will yield far more value than regular computer pins.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

[mseashell]

Noble, thanks a lot. I knew it would be hard to give a straight answer due to the way all connector pins vary. I have mostly pins out of internet modems. The place where the ethernet cable plugs in at and where the usb cable plugs in at. They seam like they have a pretty good coating on them as they are really rich with color and taking a knife to them it actually takes a pretty good scrape to get under the surface. I kinda figured a pound would be about a gram of gold, but that is mearly a guess. Haven't sent any in to be refined yet. Thank u

[etack]

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Noble, thanks a lot. I knew it would be hard to give a straight answer due to the way all connector pins vary. I have mostly pins out of internet modems. The place where the ethernet cable plugs in at and where the usb cable plugs in at. They seam like they have a pretty good coating on them as they are really rich with color and taking a knife to them it actually takes a pretty good scrape to get under the surface. I kinda figured a pound would be about a gram of gold, but that is mearly a guess. Haven't sent any in to be refined yet. Thank u

a good rule of thumb on home PCs is .75g per pound. they can do better or worse but that's about average. most of it is junk.

it would take about 1500 USB plugs to geta pound of them and you might do better than 1g a pound.

Eric

welcome back Scott

[jstreet]

Thanks for the reply here.I too was wondering rough guess.all my scrap is before 1995 and also had question about one plug I found.it has horse shoe shaped wire pins and when I scrape them I find no other metal like copper or metal.it's from 1980's computer stuff and almost round and hallow.the ends are different two they have slit up center to make better connection. Were any connections plugs made of solid gold pins

[eesakiwi]

Probably Brass pinned.

I have a couple of Lbs of pins, unsorted of base metal. Which is the big problem.
If the base metal is Steel based or Stainless steel. Its going to have to be processed completely different from the Copper and Brass based pins.

People do melt the Brass/Copper based pins down & sell it as 'Gold drops' on ebay. Which is a bit silly if you want to process it for the Gold content. Beforehand, the Gold was on the outside, now its all locked up inside. I think the intention is that its going to be made into some sort of 'Golden' jewellery.

From what i read, a escrap buyer might have their own category for 'Gold plated - Copper/Brass pins. But its not much more in $ than the price of Copper domestic.