Find the real value of gold jewellery, coins or bars with one formula: weight, purity and today's spot price. Worked examples, a purity table and what dealers actually pay.
Short answer: your gold is worth weight × purity × today's gold price per gram. That figure is its melt value, the least it is worth as metal. What a buyer actually pays is a percentage of that, and collector coins can be worth much more.
Use a jeweller's scale or a digital scale accurate to 0.01 g. Kitchen scales that round to whole grams can be off by several percent on small pieces. If you only have weights in other units, convert them: one troy ounce is 31.1035 grams, and the gram to troy ounce converter does it for you. In India you may also see the tola, which is 11.66 grams. See the guide to weighing gold and silver accurately for scale tips.
Purity says how much of the piece is gold. Pure gold is 24 karat, and lower karats are alloyed with other metals for strength. Look for a stamp on the inside of a ring, near a clasp or on the back of a pendant.
| Karat | Stamp | Gold content | Gold in 10 g |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24K | 999 / 995 | 99.9% / 99.5% | about 9.99 g |
| 22K | 916 | 91.6% | 9.16 g |
| 18K | 750 | 75.0% | 7.50 g |
| 14K | 585 / 583 | 58.5% | 5.85 g |
| 10K | 417 | 41.7% | 4.17 g |
The full list is in the purity tables, and the purity explainer covers what each grade means. If a piece has no stamp, do not guess: ask a jeweller to test it, because the purity changes the answer a lot.
Gold is priced in troy ounces. Divide the spot price per ounce by 31.1035 to get the price per gram of pure gold. Prices move all day, so use a live figure. The gold melt value calculator does the whole sum and applies the purity.
Suppose the price of pure gold is $100 per gram (an illustrative number, not a live quote) and you have a 10 gram piece.
| Piece | Calculation | Melt value |
|---|---|---|
| 10 g of 22K | 10 × 0.916 × $100 | $916 |
| 10 g of 18K | 10 × 0.750 × $100 | $750 |
| 10 g of 14K | 10 × 0.585 × $100 | $585 |
Change the price per gram and every row scales with it. At $120 per gram, the 18K piece would be 10 × 0.75 × $120 = $900.
Melt value is a ceiling for scrap, not an offer. A dealer, jeweller or refiner needs to test the piece, melt it and make a margin, so the offer is a share of melt value. The share varies by buyer, the size of the lot and how recognisable the item is, and good buyers will tell you their percentage up front. A bigger gap usually means a worse deal. The checklist for selling old gold jewellery and the guide on evaluating a buyback policy show what to ask.
Once you know what a piece is worth, write it down: weight, purity, what you paid and a photo. BullionKeeper tracks each item against the live price, so you can see your total value without redoing the sum. See the record-keeping checklist for what to capture.
Multiply the item's weight in grams by its purity as a decimal (for example 0.75 for 18K), then multiply by today's spot price per gram of pure gold. The result is the melt value, the metal content of the piece before any dealer discount or collector premium.
A buyer has to cover testing, refining or resale costs and make a margin, so offers on scrap sit below melt value. The gap varies by buyer, which is why getting several written offers is worth the time.
Only if the buyer values the stone. Many scrap buyers pay for the gold alone, so weigh the piece, then subtract the stone weight if you know it. Stones of real quality can be worth selling separately.
Look for a hallmark or a stamp such as 750, 18K, 916 or 22K. If there is none, a jeweller or assay office can test it with acid or an XRF machine without damaging it.
Not usually. Bullion coins trade at or slightly above melt value, while collector coins can be worth far more than their metal. Check the coin's mint, year and condition before assuming it is only worth its weight.
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