How can I tell if this is gold or gold plated?

[agreeneyes]

This is a figurine of an owl.  The body is a crystal and the head feet and book are gold in color.  It looks solid and the crystal is resting in the base of feet and book, it doesn't appear to be gold leaf.  There is a stamp on the bottom but I can't make it out it appears to be a hallmark.  How can I tell if this is gold or gold plated.  The eyes appear to be either black or a really dark blue stone.  If this does have gold what would be the value of this miniature owl  It's 1 1/2 in tall and 3/4 in wide

[KC]

Very rarely if ever do you find a more modern object that has gold on it unidentified!  Looks the style reminiscent of the mid 1990's.

We have some crystal figurines, of owls, same sizing and look that we gave to my mother in that time period!

[JoshandLila]

this company site sells fairly inexpensive tests http://scales-n-tools.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=10&gclid=COWZw9mRoKwCFQyFQAodbAhqBA
you basically rub a tiny spot of the material in question on a test surface and apply a chemical acid that reacts with real gold differently than "not gold"

[agreeneyes]

That's what I thought also, the small round circle stamp appears to have a letter possibly an R or A or maybe it's just a symbol. The 6 sided mark has some kind of a symbol I don't think this was purchased in the U.S.  If it was purchased in another country and did have gold it wouldn't be marked by 10K or 14K, correct? with the marks on the bottom could it be gold plated silver? Thank you for your information

[mart]

It could be a very thin gold plate !! Looking at the bottom it just doesn`t seem like a quality piece !! Marks are not well done or sharp and it looks a bit rough on the bottom !!  So I would bet it was poured into a mold then thinly gold plated if gold at all !! A maker of a gold item would usually be more careful and they would make sure their mark was readable and correct and the bottom would be as well done as the head ect !! 

[agreeneyes]

thank you