Gold pin info for those interested.

Standard post-1986 gold pins are apx 1/100th 12kt
Pre 86 range is usually 1/50th-1/60th 22kt

Military specs per dod I3345 "recycling and materials recovery guide"
Pre1977 1/32nd 22kt
1977-1998 1/32 14kt
1998-2008 1/34th 14k
2008-current 1/20th 8k

IBM Per sony leaks regarding IBM contracts
And per IBM and the rise of Hitler
pre 1948 1/10th 24kt gold bonded wrap (slice and peal off the foil!)
Or usdfi sourced 20kt pure with aluminium core
1948-1986 1/50th 22kt
2011 1/35th 14k

Other notes.
Not all "silver" pins are silver. Anything earlier than the mid 1980s should be tested by a certified gemologist or state licensed recycler (state licence for material recovery not a business license).
I've come across many cases (especially in calculators and other portables) where the pins were white gold plated.
Many hp digital adders and early calculators use Al34 draft alloy of magnesium palladium @90x10
Commodore business machines calculators have thick bonding wire between the board and vacuum tube screen of a proprietary ieee ans iso submitted alloy of aluminium zinc and platinum. Ame drafts standard Al/Zn 9019 for 90x1x9.
Ignore the ferroetic priorities the have a thin cast iron wire core. That was used in the electrical bonding process to create a static base for the wires.
A safe way to value them is at 9% at a 22% reduction.

"Standard post-1986 gold pins are apx 1/100th 12kt
Pre 86 range is usually 1/50th-1/60th 22kt"

1/100th of what? 1/50th - 1/60th of what? a gram an ounce an inch?

also, all gold plating on pins/connectors that have gold plating, is 24kt. The this type of application, the gold has a very specific use... When two metals make contact with each other, there is a surface to surface resistance that is inherent and dependent on the types of metal used. When you plug something into a socket in the wall the brass to iron (or whatever metal your plug/socket are) it has a negligible effect... when you running a CPU on insanely low amperage and voltages, it becomes a problem.

for sensitive electronics to work you have to find away to overcome that surface to surface resistance, and there is no better metal at doing that than pure gold. The softness and electrical properties of pure gold virtually eliminates the resistance and is the reason it is used. In addition, the plating processes tend to only work well with pure reagents.

That being said, the actual thickness of the layer of gold over the years has gotten thinner and thinner with advancing plating technology. Early on they did not have the process controls as they do now, so they plated much thicker. Nowadays they have the systems in place to put down nanometers of a metal on a substrate with nearly 100% accuracy.

In the refining that me and my colleagues have done, the best rule of thumb is this... The duller that gold appearance, the thicker the plating. The shinier, the thinner it is. Gold, when plated/deposited, has a very matte like appearance. The shiny appearance of most computer pins/fingers today actually comes from the nickle barrier layer underneath... yes, that means the gold is so thin you can actually see through it.

Pins in general are very low yield... To give everyone an idea, I base my numbers 0.25-0.5 grams recovered/pound for fully plated pins... Are the pins out there with more gold than that, absolutely... but most of what you come across now is flash plated material, and just not worth the hassle... at least not for a small scale refiner.

Generic buy rates per gram. For use in reselling.and buying scrap
If you were to simply stick the pins in a kiln and melt them to a liquid(sorta) and recast them the measurements are general.

It's a way to use calculators and the comparison is directly from the dod guide chart.

Good adjustable calc to try
http://dendritics.com/metal-calc/


Also.

Yes that is true but it's pointless to say i want to buy gold plated pins. Period. And nothing else.
In this case the 24kt plating equals x/yths of the total melted block alloy.

Which is why you can also find in industrial scrap x/y cu and x/y Al blocks.

Most multi material alloy is sold that way. Including flashed plastics.
Cell phones are a common example. .
The sega game gear shell is 1/80th nickel pbs.

So if you have a 1988 dec 60pro and cut the pins off and weigh them you're values on gram rates would be 1/100 at 12k in calculations.

Or if you were buying a 1983 gold pins nuget/bar/shot/etc a-i you can judge IN GENERAL the value by inputting X grams at 1/50th alloy at 22k for a read out rate.

That's the standard methods for comparisons of Plated scrap.

the x/yth per gram is good to know and clarifies things a bit.

The "fraction" times the "karat" is really misleading though, that is why I added the explanation about the 24k plating. I have only heard of that method in regards to gold filled material, so maybe it is something that stems from that?

I just don't understand why they don't give the rate as one ratio, instead of a ratio times another ratio...

either way, my numbers actually fall pretty well inline with the the later categories. The key here is that you actually have to be able to verify the source of the pins. If you remove, process, and refine them yourself then that's one thing... but with all the different variables, I understand why most people stay away from refining pins.

good numbers to know though.

indeed ..

Exactly. I'm looking at helping the people out who ask questions like "if i removed the pins" since there's an obvious reason to ask that.
For all the home refiners and people like myself who sell directly to commercial refineries it's a good starting point.
At least with this (like i said it's us dod sourced data) you have an idea if it's worth any time to do so, pulling pins.
These days except for pre 1978 and any catalyst boards I tend to just forgot about pin pulling.

Game gear shell.

Great discussion ..i was wondering about the pins on old floppy drives?...they are fairly long in length and mine go back at least 15 years...do they have any exta value?..thanks

Floppy boards go as peripheral because of the pins.
Removing the pins is a gamble... your left with a valueless board to guess on the pins

Mls put it best. If they can't be sourced...
You're gambling.