Saxon's Survival Hour #171: Making Imitation Gold and Silver

6 months ago

Today's excerpt begins on page 20 of The Survivor Volume 1.

Making Imitation Gold and Silver

About 1965 I noticed the money freaks began coming out of the woodwork.
They said paper money was no good and only silver and gold had any value and should be hoarded.

There’s no arguing with these people because they're just right enough to make sense to themselves.
Most of us know that paper money is backed by a Liberal psychotic's dream.
It's a fraud and the more people realize it, the less you can buy with it.

But as long as there is some agreement as to the value which will be placed on paper money it is still more convenient than exchanging metal.
Gold and silver prices fluctuate wildly and their value will be stated in paper dollars until there is no longer any agreement on a paper money value.
When that time comes the Survivor will trade by barter only.

When there is no more trust in paper money who will re-establish the value of gold and silver?
The same people who said paper money is good for you?
The government economists, bankers, the strictly commercial manipulators who run conglomerates and would be hard put to tell you what their factories produce?
When they are gone, their standards will go with them, as far as I'm concerned.

I believe that Survivors will quickly come to agreements on the value of the products of their farms, hands and minds.
For convenience, intricately made, vari-colored glass coins could be used, like wampum.
They would be harder to counterfeit than paper or metal money, they would be pretty and could be used as jewelry or carried in the pocket.
Such pretties have been used as currency far longer than metals or paper and were just as good as long as the agreement was there.

So if you have stores of gold or silver I advise you to trade it in for barter goods.
An example is bullets, bullet components and bullet making outfits.
With a bullet, you can defend what you have, take what you must have, or barter with other Survivors who already agree on the value of bullets.
I believe bullets will be the main currency after the crash.

Anyway, if you know a lot of metal freaks and they won't listen to reason, you can give them temporary pleasure by enlarging their hordes of gold and or silver.
They may as well contribute to your chances of survival than the chances of someone with real gold or silver.
Besides, how do you, or most of them, know the bulk of their raw metal is genuine?

Some gold alloys are so good only a professional assayist can detect fraud.
The average alloy looks like gold but is lighter in weight.
The weight can be made up in ingots by drilling and filling the holes with lead, then pouring molten alloy in the remainder of the hole and smoothing.
That way, imitation government sanctioned gold ounces can be turned out by the hundreds in your kitchen.

If you can afford the best imitation gold you must get a kiln which heats to 3080°F. to melt platinum or 2016°F. to melt gold.
If you're willing to use lead cores for weight you can make do with a kiln which heats to 2000°F. to melt copper 1996°F., the most common metal used in imitation gold and the hardest of the common ingredients to melt.

You can get kilns and crucibles through any ceramics shop.

Most of the formulas for imitation gold and silver are written in 19th century terms.
I'll translate the first one as an example.
But if you are really into reproducing the old formulas and processes you will have to order GRANDDADS WONDERFUL BOOK OF CHEMISTRY.
It defines most of the old terms you’ll meet up with and also tells you how to do the operations which are needed to accomplish your aims.

The first one is an oldie but a goody.

"The French process for making artificial gold is given as follows: Pure copper, 100 parts; pure tin, 17 parts; magnesia (magnesium oxide), 6 parts: sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride), 1/2 part; quick lime (calcium oxide), 1/2 part; tarter of commerce (cream of tartar/potassium bitartrate), 9 parts.

The copper is first melted and the magnesia, sal ammoniac, lime and tartar are then added separately and by degrees, in the form of powder and the whole is briskly stirred for half an hour so as to mix thoroughly; then the tin is added by throwing it on the surface, in small grains and stirring until it is entirely fused.
The crucible is then covered and the fusion maintained for about 35 minutes.
The surface is then skimmed and the metal is ready for casting.
It strongly resembles gold in appearance, resists many of the tests used for gold, and for many purposes it is an excellent substitute.
It has a fine grain, is malleable, and takes a splendid polish.
When tarnished, its brilliancy can be restored by a little acidulated water (any acid diluted with water).”

Dick's 1872 has two formulas for counterfeit gold.
3431 is so similar to the French method, published in 1922.
I believe it was the original.

3397, Counterfeit Gold.
Fuse together 8 parts platinum, 5 parts pure copper, 2 parts pure lime, 4 ports tin, and 3 parts pure lead, using saltpetre, sal-ammoniac, and powdered charcoal as fluxes.
This compound metal strongly resembles gold in appearance, and resists many of the tests used tor gold.

3431, Oroide, or Artificial Oold.

This material is manufactured largely in the United Snakes into imitation jewelry and other articles, scarcely distinguishable from gold, except by the inferior gravity; and it is a matter of surprise to almost any one to learn that it does not contain a single grain of the precious metal.
It is made by taking 100 ports of pure copper, 17 of pure tin, 9 of magnesia, 9 of tartar of commerce, 3.0 of sal-ammoniao, and 1.0 of unslacked lime.
The copper is first melted, and the other substances (excepting the tin) added, a little at a time, and the whole well stirred for 30 minutes, so as to produce a perfect mixture, when the tin is thrown in and stirred round until melted the crucible is then covered, and the fusion is kept up for 35 minutes, and the scum taken when the substance is ready for use.
It is malleable and ductile, and can be worked in any form, even into leaves like gold.
The alloy may also be made by substituting granulated zink for tin, but it will not retain its brilliancy so long us when tin is employed.

Then there is the formula from Secrets of Wise Men and Chemists, 1889, which was definitely swiped from Dick's.

Imitation Gold

An American has discovered a beautiful alloy, which has been most successfully applied as a substitute for gold.
It is composed of pure copper, 100 parts; pure tin, 17 parts; magnesia, 6 parts; tartar of commerce, 9 parts; sal-ammoniac, 3.6 parts, and quicklime, 1.6 parts.
The copper is first melted, then the lime, magnesia, sal ammoniac, and tartar are added, little at a time, and the whole is briskly stirred for about half an hour, so as to mix thoroughly, after which the tin is thrown on the surface in small grains, stirring until entirely fused.
The crucible is now covered and the fusion kept up for about thirty-five minutes, when the dross is skimmed off, and the alloy found ready for use.
It is quite malleable and ductile, and may be drawn, stamped, chased, beaten into powder, or into leaves, like gold leaf, in all of which conditions it is not distinguishable from gold even by good judges, except by its inferior weight.

Imitation Silver

Combine by fusion 1 part pure copper, 24 parts block tin, 1.5 parts pure antimony, .25 parts pure bismuth, and 2 parts clear glass.
The glass may be omitted save in cases where it is an object to have the metal sonorous.

3428, French Silver.
The new French silver is apparently an improvement on the old-fashioned German silver, and it is stated to be applicable to all the purposes to which ordinary commercial silver is applicable.
It is composed of copper, 56 per cent, nickel, 40.04, tungsten, 2.0, aluminum, 0.5G.
It is a white, ductile, malleable, tenacious, sonorous alloy; its specific gravity is nine-tenths that of silver, its metallic lustre superior to that of silver, and its fusibility less, probably on account of the tungsten it contains.

And last is a bunch of gold and silver formulas for jewelers from Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary. 1872.

kurt pic.png

Kurt Saxon thought civilization would have collapsed by now.
He spent the majority of his life collecting knowledge of home based business.
His goal was for all his readers to survive at a more comfortable level than those that were less provident.

He knew the importance of communicating at a level folks could understand.
Most of what he has compiled for our benefit can be easily understood by everybody.

He also includes a subtle sense of humor.

You can find the majority of his life's work here.

Hear him read his stories.