Boards · Tier B

Wire-wrap / pin boards

Dense field of square gold posts standing proud of the board, often with wrapped wire still on them. Mainframe, telecom and industrial gear from the 60s–80s.

Au 0.6–1.5 g/lbAg 0.5–2 g/lbCu 20–30%

eBay typical$20–35per lb

Refiner pays$13.5per lb

Metal in it$48.6per lb at 4 Aug 2026 spot

Confidencemedof the yield figures

How to spot it

Wire-wrap backplanes and prototyping boards. Square-section gold-plated posts, usually 0.025", in a regular grid.

Metal content

Metal	Quantity	Notes
Gold	0.6–1.5 g/lb	gold-plated wire-wrap posts
Silver	0.5–2 g/lb
Copper	20–30%

At 4 Aug 2026 spot prices that works out to $48.6 per pound of contained metal — Gold 0.35 g = $45.7, Silver 0.9 g = $1.71, Copper 110 g = $1.18. A refiner paying $13.5 returns about 28% of that, which is normal: refining costs money and the buyer takes a margin.

Safe removal

Working temperature: Preheat 250–280 °C

Shear the post field off the laminate, or preheat and pull. The FR4 is nearly worthless — trim it away before weighing.

Hazards

☠ Lead — dust more than fume

NEVER dry sweep or use compressed air on a scrapping bench. HEPA-vac or wet-wipe only.

Questions

How much gold is in wire-wrap / pin boards?

Gold: 0.6–1.5 g/lb. Silver: 0.5–2 g/lb. Copper: 20–30%. At current spot that is about $48.6 of contained metal per pound.

How do you identify wire-wrap / pin boards?

Dense field of square gold posts standing proud of the board , often with wrapped wire still on them. Mainframe, telecom and industrial gear from the 60s–80s.

How do you remove wire-wrap / pin boards safely?

Shear the post field off the laminate, or preheat and pull. The FR4 is nearly worthless — trim it away before weighing.

Related in Boards

Cell phone boards Boards · $25–40/lb Au 0.09–0.50 g/lbAg 0.23–1.26 g/lbPd 0.025–0.07 g/lbCu 12–56% A Telecom / military boards Boards · $11–35/lb Au 0.3–4 g/lbAg 1–8 g/lbPd 0.02–0.3 g/lbCu 15–25% A Telecom backplanes Boards · $10–18/lb Au 1–3 g/lb wholeAg 0.5–2 g/lbCu 20–30% A Laptop motherboards Boards · $10–18/lb Au 0.20–0.50 g/lbAg 1–3 g/lbPd 0.02–0.08 g/lbCu 15–25% B Server motherboards Boards · $9–16/lb Au 0.05–0.3 g/lbAg 1–3 g/lbPd 0.02–0.10 g/lbCu 15–25% B Arcade PCBs / JAMMA Boards Boards · $30–800/lb Au 0.05–0.20 g per board ≈ 0.09 g/lbCu ~45 g/lbAu ceramic gold-lid customs (FD1094 C

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