This is really an important question. Could the gold colored metal really be gold if it's not marked?
The metal content can determine if a piece is costume jewelry or fine jewelry. The type of metal and the marks on the metal can have an enormous effect on the price.
Vintage costume jewelry that is not gold but gold colored often looks a little bit too gold looking to be Gold.
Vintage Gold plated is often detected by carefully examining the points that get the most wear - you can often notice a wearing away of the gold at these wear points.
Nineteenth century costume jewelry was made using base metal such as steel, nickel silver, copper and brass, electroplated with gold or silver, this type of jewelry may be "die struck".
If still in doubt, your local jeweler can acid test to determine metal content.
