As the first step of our analysis of the items brought to us at Toronto Gold, we use a rare earth magnet. Often, our customers ask us how the magnet works and why it doesn’t pick up gold or silver.
Neodymium magnets are very strong magnets and they were developed in the 1970s and 1980s. They are made up of rare earth elements and are on average 3 times stronger than the average ceramic magnet. This is why the magnets we use are able to pick things up that your fridge magnets at home do not pick up. The strength of a magnet is measured in number of Tesla (named in honour of Nikola Tesla). Rare earth magnet strength can be greater than 1.4 tesla where a ceramic magnet score from 0.5-1 tesla.
Because of their strength, rare earth magnets are much more effective at picking up items that emit weaker magnetic fields. This includes the coins and jewelry that we test. The most common metals that are magnetic and found in coins and jewelry are iron, nickel, and cobalt. The reason we use these magnets is, you guessed it, gold and silver do not create magnetic fields on their own and therefore don’t get picked up by the magnets.
If you aren’t sure if what you have is gold, bring it in. We would be happy to test it for you. Contact us today.