Featured Is this an Eagle or Minerva? Gold Hallmark Resources?

My 60x loupe came early today, but I'm pretty much no closer to the answer for this brooch than I was 3 hours ago. Resources abound for silver marks, but I'm not finding much for gold. Are there any sites I don't know about that could help?

I've found 4 marks on the pin, 1 square, 2 lozenge, and 1 without a cartouche/shape. I also found another lozenge near the clasp but it looks blank at the moment.

The square (top right) is the clearest but I have no idea what it is, and without reference online I don't know what I'm looking at. It looks like leaves or trees, but if you turn your head to the right it looks like an inca style sun with a face. Not sure if that's correct lol.
The lozenges are half marks but are pretty clear, however I've not seen anything similar in the lists I found. They're located each next to one of the marks on either side of the pin. It looks like there are letters, but not sure what language it is. Could be french or latin perhaps?

The non cartouche is what I assume to be the purity mark. Try as I might I just can't see the eagle, it could be Minerva but this looks too feminine. But the mark is microscopic so I don't know if this is a half mark, or if you just can't look at it too close and use the outline as a guide instead.



Here is the brooch in question. It passed the magnet and water test with flying colors. It weighs 3.74 grams, and measures roughly 4 or 5cm.




I'm at my whits end, please help! ​

 

@RachelW, I too am at your "wits end"!!! I tried my enhancements, and got nearly NO where!!!! They seem to not want to identify themselves!!!! I wound up using the one feature I least like to use as it "CAN" distort the marks sometimes.........and sometimes not......I have to pick & choose, & decide..... so the results aren't much better than yours, just a bit larger, and the one sort of shaped like a 'clam shell', I had NO improvement at all (the mark that looks pretty much just black & white)....... the last image looks like there might be some letters in the upper LEFT corner......sorry!



​

 

Oh my goodness me thank you so much for your effort! Honestly those do look so much better, what program do you use?? I've loved your work in everyone's posts.

What a maddening piece of jewelry. If it is gold its certainly making us all work for it! I figured with the higher magnification it'd be an hour max, more like 3 hours with nothing more than I knew before! In fact it looked like an eagle under the 30x haha

 

I am so bad with marks, can't help... But I love the brooch no matter gold or not gold. Very exquisite!

 

@RachelW, It's a company called Topaz....they specialize in refining images, by enlarging, sharpening, De-noise, contrasting, refining other than Photoshop, and they found a couple other ways to help trying to enhance poor or not clear images.....and they can fix videos I'm told, but if one mixes them together, it can make a mess of what you're trying to CLEAR UP as well!!!!!! I know, I've tried it!!!!

 

Oh goodness I replied in my head but never here! Apologies. Thanks so much! I'll have to look into them and see if it'll be helpful for me.

 

Yes its rather lovely! If gold, I'd most likely look to scrap it but I'm rather hesitant because its so nice!

 

I've been looking at this again this evening, and took another photo of the square mark (top right in the first post). Am I blind or is that a half eagle mark?

 

Oh, it will be pity! Of course, it is yours to do whatever you want, but it is indeed very nice. Isn't it possible to be sold as it is?

 

I'm guessing it's probably gold.
(*This is just my personal opinion, I'm not an expert )
That tiny lozenge shaped mark could be French. The other mark looks like the center of the eagle's face. Because it's stamped on the rounded pin , only the center portion of the mark is present.
The French like to tease us with their impossibly small marks!
If it's gold....Gold price on this pin today is $136.00.
If you scrap it, a dealer would only give you about $95.
Maybe you should wear it! It would be perfect on a denim jacket. You could even attach it to a hair elastic for a pretty ponytail look.
Or you could thread it onto a chain for a cool necklace.
(I'm gently trying to stop you from scrapping it!)

 

I like the intrigue of hunting down the info presented in marks, however I’d say it’s pretty safe to say this pin is certainly gold, I’d assume 14k

If you are just trying to determine the purity, and plan on scrapping it anyway, why not test it with acid? There’s very little inconclusiveness with acid

but I have to ask….
What is “the water test” ?

 

Rachel could even do that if she'd intend to keep it, because she would need to use a testing stone anyway.
Never put acid straight on an item, always rub the item on the testing stone until it leaves a stripe, and put the acid on the stripe.

 

Yes, that’s the way to cause minimal damage, if the intent is to keep or sell the item. But in order to get through a heavily plated item, you have to scratch deeper.

A scrap dealer is going to cut a gouge in the piece with a file and put a drop directly on the cut.

 

Oh, I thought you meant that Rachel could test it.

 

Yes, I did. Just saying that if it’s going to get scrapped anyway, no need to worry about damaging it. A scrap dealer will cut deep and test it as well, because cutting through the surface is the only way to be sure.

 

IMO, For this specific piece though, this is simply a exercise in determining if it’s 14k or 18k

the marks, although un-deciphered, indicate typical assay, purity & makers marks not typically found on non-precious metals.

The construction is high quality, not found in costume jewelry, aside from very high end makers.

In my opinion, it is most certainly European gold, the only unknown is 14k or 18k, and acid can determine that (the simple scratch test would suffice, because I don’t suspect it to be plated)

 

Oh goodness sorry everyone, the last couple weeks have been all over the place.

I do think it would be a shame to scrap, but I don't know what sort of value it has above scrap or what interest someone would have in it. In my current financial situation I'd like to get as much as I can for it as work is sparce and inconsistant in my field. If someone would take it I'd be more than happy to have someone enjoy it, as it is such a nice thing! Just not my style, though I do like the hair accessory idea.

I'd test it but I don't have a kit, it was the thing I held off on because I didn't think the marks would be so evasive under a 60x loup. Ah well!

 

Its something I saw on a wikihow article. If you put it in a glass of water, it should sink immediately if its gold. Other metal apparently floats.

 

Other metal also sinks. Wikihow is rarely a good source of infomation.

 

Much like the magnet test, that does not indicate that it is in fact gold, it only will help identify what is not gold.

Most metals will sink in water, similarly there are many metals that do not attract a magnet. These “tests” do not identify or show a positive result for gold, they simply allow you to eliminate possibilities