Melting means to change something from a solid to a liquid by the application of heat. When the heat is removed, the melted material returns to its solid state. Its chemical content has not been changed. Smelting, however, is a metallurgical term. It refers to “burning off” the impurities that your gold might be mixed with, resulting in nearly pure gold. Whether you’ve recovered natural gold (nuggets, flakes, wire gold, pickers, flour gold), or have unwanted jewelry or beat up coins, you can affordably smelt and/or melt these at home.