Mark & Melt

Hallmark guide · Gold-filled

What does GF / Gold Filled mean?

Gold filled means a gold-alloy layer of at least 10 karat bonded mechanically to a base metal, making up at least 1/20 of the item's total metal weight. The FTC Guides require the karat to precede the term (e.g. '14K Gold Filled').

Metal
Gold-filled
Purity
—
Where
US
01

Often confused with

  • Wikipedia notes a bare 'GF' without karat and fraction does not meet FTC labelling (e.g. should read '1/20 14K GF').
  • Much thicker than gold plate or electroplate, but still mostly base metal.
02

What a piece marked GF / Gold Filled is worth

IWhat is it?
IIWhat's stamped on it?

Tap the mark you see. Not sure? Pick the closest and check the purity guide below.

IIIWeight

grams (g)

Adjust spot price and buyer payout
Buyer pays (% of melt)
–%

Cash buyers usually offer 70–90% of melt value. Adjust if you have a quote.

Melt value $0.00. Likely cash offer $0.00 – $0.00.

Filled or plated — gold over base metal

GF, RGP and HGE pieces have only a thin layer of gold. Most buyers pay little or nothing for them; a few refiners buy gold-filled by weight at a small fraction of solid-gold prices.

DocketYour tally

Add items to total everything you plan to sell, silver and gold together.

Sources

Related marks