14k Topped Cane: How do I determine GOLD weight?

Hi there! We’ve picked up a lovely lady’s walking stick made by Shreve & Co.

Measures 36-3/8” long. Gold section measures 5”. Diameter starts at 1/2” and increases to 1-1/4”.

What percent of total weight would be the gold? Gold section doesnt appear to be removable. Is there a standard % as with knives/flatware?

Also, would the hole through the wood be for a decorative tassel? (2nd pic) Thanks again for your help! Sally

 

The gold part is most likely filled with "pitch" and it would be hard to estimate without knowing the metal thickness.The hole would be for a wrist "loop" or whatever they are called today on many hiking/walking sticks.

 

@Hollyblue The gold handle doesn’t feel at all weighted. I’ve attached a photo from the end. The measurement is approximately 4mm (to the best of my ability)

 

Heating it well with a hair dryer may make it able to slide off

You can only sell it as the object it is or scrap. You can't do both.

I've found many of these types of things marked as though they were solid gold when in fact they were rolled plate. Acid testing directly in the engraving would show the base metal if that were the case.

 

The end has been "rolled" over and I doubt the actual thickness is more than 1mm,look at the top where the damage appears to have separated and it appears to be very thin in the photo.

 

It does have a 14k stamp. I’ll try the hairdryer when my husband returns

 

I was able to get a magnified image of the top. Yes, thin. Thanks!

 

Looks like a glob of solder from a repair and to the right the metal appears to be copper color in the photo.

 

Agreed. It would be great to figure out the value of each option before doing either. That’s why we want to calc weight. Want to figure out which way is better (we tend to believe that items are worth more as the item over scrap value, although it is clearly not always the case. Will also test)

 

I def see the copper color. Will test

 

Measure the surface area as best you can and then assume the gold is about 0.5mm thick. This will give you a volume and hence a weight approximation.
1/2mm may be generous, but it's always going to be a rule of thumb job.
I'd expect the intact item price to exceed the gold value. Walking canes are quite popular in the market and gold topped examples are rare. Maybe because many have been scrapped over the years.

 

@afantiques Thank you! Yes, we tend to discourage scraping items. This one also have the owner’s name and address engraved in the gold

 

@terry5732 My husband tried the dryer unsuccessfully. He suggests boiling water. What do you think?

 

If it is filled with black pitch, the melting temp is 250-300 degrees F. A paint stripping gun on high would probably get hot enough and would be better outside than inside a house.

 

Personally I vote for leaving bad enough alone. Heating this or messing with it could damage it, turning a nice stick into scrap. Shreve is a name to conjure with.

 

I think we will keep it and sell it as-is. It’s a nice stick.

 

Trying to sort volume now

 

On second glance, that may have been an umbrella early on; it looks like it had a metal ferrule on the end (would have as a stick anyway) and that hole has me wondering... I have an umbrella that was a family piece with a similar handle. Somewhere. The shafts on umbrellas were often wood for a long time, and this one is narrow enough. On the up side, this is going to look awfully good in someone's umbrella/cane stand and they probably won't care one way or the other.

 

Not that this adds much or anything, but the 'loop' that goes through the hole in the shaft and around the user's wrist is called a lanyard.

 

@Shangas Thank you!