Scrap gold calculator
This calculator shows you the math behind any scrap gold offer. Every price updates from the live spot feed ($4,377.60 per troy ounce). And if a buyer already quoted you a number, the grader below shows that offer as a share of melt and names the payout band it lands in.
Gold $4,377.60/oz Silver $64.83/oz LiveCurrent gold spot price: $4,377.60 per troy ounce, from Gold-API's real-time feed, cross-checked against Kitco.
| Karat | Per gram | Per pennyweight | Per troy oz |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24K Gold·99.90% | $140.60 | $218.66 | $4373.22 |
| 22K Gold·91.67% | $129.02 | $200.65 | $4012.95 |
| 18K Gold·75.00% | $105.56 | $164.16 | $3283.20 |
| 14K Gold·58.50% | $82.33 | $128.04 | $2560.90 |
| 10K Gold·41.67% | $58.65 | $91.21 | $1824.15 |
Grade the offer you received
Melt value is the reference point, not what buyers pay. Enter your item and the quote you were given; the grader converts the offer to a percent of melt and compares it against the published payout ranges in the table below. Gold-filled stamps (1/20 14K GF and 1/20 12K GF) are first-class options, priced at the marking minimum.
What buyers actually pay
No channel pays full melt, and the spread between channels is enormous. In a test reported in November 2009, Consumer Reports' Money Lab mailed identical 18-karat chains and pendants to a range of buyers. Mail-in cash-for-gold companies paid 11 to 29 percent of the day's market price, while pawn shops paid 35 to 70 percent. A separate investigation reported by Consumer Reports in September 2009 found Cash4Gold offering as little as 11 percent of melt value for gold necklaces sent in for appraisal.
| Channel | Published payout | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Mail-in cash-for-gold | 11 to 29 percent of the day's market price | Consumer Reports Money Lab test, 2009 |
| Cash4Gold specifically | as little as 11 percent of melt value | Consumer Reports press room, 2009 |
| Pawn shops, measured | 35 to 70 percent of the day's market price | Consumer Reports Money Lab test, 2009 |
| Pawn shops, typical guide range | 40 to 60 percent of actual worth, some offers near 20 percent | Kravit Jewelers |
| Pawn shops, reported average | about 43 percent of spot | Alloy Market |
| Scrap gold buyers broadly | 70 to 90 percent of melt value | Robinson's Jewelers |
| Online buyer, advertised ceiling | up to 95 percent of spot | Alloy Market |
| Mail-in buyer, advertised ceiling | up to 90 percent of refined value for jewelry, up to 98 percent for bullion | Express Gold Cash |
Read the two kinds of numbers differently. The up-to figures come from the buyers' own marketing pages, so they are ceilings, not averages. The Consumer Reports figures were measured with real jewelry mailed to real buyers.
Why every channel pays under melt
Buyers sit between you and a refiner, and each layer costs money. A jeweler's guide on melt versus scrap value notes that separating pure gold from other metals and impurities isn't free, and that buyers carry staffing, security, and equipment costs plus market risk between purchase and resale. Pawn shops price the same way because they must cover rent and payroll and still resell at a profit.
Refiner fee schedules show the floor under all of this. Dillon Gage charges a 1 percent refining fee on karat-gold lots over 50 ounces and 2 percent on smaller lots, adds a $30 assay fee per lot, and requires at least $10,000 of pure gold value in a lot. So a person with one ring cannot go straight to a major refiner. The middlemen exist for a reason, and their margin is exactly the gap the grader above measures.
How scrap gold value is calculated
The melt value of gold content equals weight × purity × spot price. Weight must be in the same unit the spot price uses (troy ounces), so converters first translate grams or pennyweights into troy ounces, then apply the karat purity fraction, then multiply by spot.
- Convert your weight to troy ounces (table below).
- Multiply by the karat purity fraction (e.g. 14K = 0.585).
- Multiply by the spot price per troy ounce.
Weight conversion reference and the kitchen scale ounce trap
A kitchen scale weighs in avoirdupois ounces of 28.349523125 grams. Gold trades in troy ounces of 31.1034768 grams. Per NIST Handbook 44, one troy ounce equals 1.097143 avoirdupois ounces, roughly 10 percent heavier. Read a kitchen-scale ounce as a troy ounce and you overvalue your gold by that margin before the karat math even starts. The grader above accepts kitchen ounces and converts them before it prices anything.
| From | To | Multiplier | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 pennyweight (dwt) | grams | 1.555 | NIST Handbook 44 |
| 1 gram | pennyweights | 0.64 | Manhattan Gold & Silver |
| 1 troy ounce | grams | 31.103 | NIST Handbook 44 |
| 1 troy ounce | pennyweights | 20 | NIST Handbook 44 |
Pennyweights trip people up the same way. Twenty pennyweights make one troy ounce, which equals 480 grains, and a kitchen-scale ounce comes to 18.22917 pennyweights, not 20. NIST's uniform method-of-sale regulation states that precious metals priced by weight shall be sold by either troy weight or SI units.
Understanding karat purity and the stamps
The karat system measures gold purity in parts per 24 total parts. Higher karats contain more pure gold but are softer and more prone to wear. Source: Onecklace guide to karat gold purity.
| Karat | Pure gold | Alloy metals |
|---|---|---|
| 24K | 24/24 parts (no alloy) | None |
| 22K | 22/24 parts (91.7%) | 2/24 parts (8.3%) |
| 18K | 18/24 parts (75.0%) | 6/24 parts (25.0%) |
| 14K | 14/24 parts (58.3%) | 10/24 parts (41.7%) |
| 10K | 10/24 parts (41.7%) | 14/24 parts (58.3%) |
The FTC Jewelry Guides (16 CFR 23.3) list example markings that may be misleading. An unqualified word Gold on an item not composed throughout of fine, 24 karat gold is one of them, and the guides' example markings put a correct karat fineness designation immediately before the word with equal prominence. Real stamps like 14K follow that convention.
Gold-filled jewelry
Gold-filled pieces are not solid gold. The FTC guides describe the Gold Filled marking as applying when the plating makes up at least 1/20th of the weight of the metal in the entire article, with the plating's karat fineness immediately preceding the term. So a piece marked to that convention, say 1/20 14K G.F., carries at least one twentieth of its metal weight as 14K alloy, and the grader's gold-filled options price exactly that minimum. Thinner plating gets the actual fraction spelled out, as in the guides' example marking 1/40th 12 Kt. Rolled Gold Plate, and the Gold Electroplate description calls for a minimum thickness equivalent to 0.175 microns of fine gold.
Melt value at common weights
Every cell recomputes from the live spot when the page loads. Values are melt, not an offer.
| Weight | 24K | 22K | 18K | 14K | 10K |
|---|
Common questions
How do I calculate the value of my scrap gold?
Convert your weight to troy ounces, multiply by the karat purity fraction, then multiply by the spot price per troy ounce. The calculator above does this live as you type.
What is a fair offer for scrap gold?
Judge it as a share of melt, not in dollars. The published figures on this page run from 11 percent at the bottom of the measured mail-in range to 90 percent at the top of the scrap-buyer range, with advertised ceilings of up to 95 percent of spot and up to 98 percent for bullion. Run your offer through the grader and see which band it lands in before you say yes.
Can I sell straight to a refiner?
Usually not with a household lot. Dillon Gage requires a minimum of $10,000 in pure gold value per refining lot, and its schedule of a 1 percent fee over 50 ounces, 2 percent under, plus a $30 assay fee is built for dealers moving volume. Small sellers go through a middleman, which is where the payout table above comes in.
How do I grade a quote given per pennyweight?
Multiply a per-pennyweight quote by twenty to compare it with the per-troy-ounce spot, since 20 pennyweights equal one troy ounce. An offer on 14K sits well below the pure-gold per-pennyweight figure, because the metal is 58.3 percent gold and the buyer keeps a margin on top.
Is spot a buying or a selling price?
Spot quotes come as a pair. Kitco publishes separate bid and ask prices for gold, and the LBMA Gold Price benchmark is set twice daily in auctions at 10:30 and 15:00 London time, administered by ICE Benchmark Administration. Melt value from any calculator, this one included, is a reference point rather than a standing offer to buy.
How do I weigh my gold accurately?
Use a jeweler's scale that measures to 0.01 grams or 0.01 pennyweights. Kitchen scales are not precise enough for small amounts. If you only have a kitchen scale, weigh multiple pieces together, divide, and remember the ounce trap above.
Where these numbers come from
By Mike, builder of GoldGramPrice. No price on this page is typed by hand. The spot figure comes from Gold-API's real-time feed, which is free to use around the clock, and it is cross-checked against Kitco's live quotes before anything ships. Weight conversions come from NIST Handbook 44 Appendix C, and karat percentages follow the published karat guide. The formula stays visible under every result, grams times purity times price per gram, so you can recompute any number yourself.
Disclaimers
GoldGramPrice is an independent calculator. We are not a gold buyer and do not give investment advice. Prices are estimates from a live spot feed, verified against multiple sources; confirm any offer independently.