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What your scrap gold is actually worth, and what a buyer is likely to offer for it. Melt value is the ceiling — the number that matters when you sell is a percentage of it, and which percentage depends entirely on who you sell to.
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Likely offer from a jeweller or coin shop
$619.15 – $742.99
The realistic option for most sellers. A local buyer who resells or refines in bulk can pay well, and the rate improves noticeably with quantity and with a competing quote in your pocket.
Melt value is the metal content at the current spot price and is the ceiling, not an offer. Payout bands are typical industry ranges, not quotes — the rate you are actually offered depends on quantity, karat mix and the buyer. Weigh items of different purity separately: a mixed pile valued at its highest karat will overstate what it is worth.
Typical ranges, not quotes. Rates improve with quantity and with a competing offer, and the best-paying option is usually the least convenient one.
| Buyer | Typical payout | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Refiner (bulk lots) | 90–95% | Pays closest to melt because it removes the middleman entirely, but usually sets a minimum quantity, charges an assay or lot fee, and settles days later rather than on the spot. |
| Jeweller or coin shop | 75–90% | The realistic option for most sellers. A local buyer who resells or refines in bulk can pay well, and the rate improves noticeably with quantity and with a competing quote in your pocket. |
| Mail-in gold buyer | 50–75% | Convenient and consistently the weakest rate. The offer arrives after you have already posted the gold, so check the return policy before sending anything you are not prepared to accept a low offer on. |
| Pawn shop | 40–60% | Lowest of the four, because a pawn shop is pricing to resell at retail rather than to refine. Worth considering for a loan against the item, less so for an outright sale. |
| Karat / hallmark | Pure gold | Melt value per gram |
|---|---|---|
| 9K (375) | 37.5% | $53.07 |
| 10K | 41.7% | $58.97 |
| 14K (585) | 58.3% | $82.55 |
| 18K (750) | 75.0% | $106.14 |
| 21K | 87.5% | $123.83 |
| 22K (916) | 91.7% | $129.73 |
| 24K (999) | 100.0% | $141.52 |
Melt value only, before any buyer's margin. Selling coins rather than jewellery? Use the coin melt value calculator instead — recognised bullion and collectable dates sell well above scrap rates.
Pure (24K) gold is worth about $141.52 per gram at the current spot price. Scrap is rarely pure, so the figure that matters is the karat: 14K is 58.3% gold, worth about $82.55 per gram of melt value, and 9K is 37.5%, worth about $53.07. That is the metal value, before any buyer's margin.
No. Melt value is the ceiling, not an offer. A refiner taking bulk lots typically pays 90–95% of melt, a local jeweller or coin shop 75–90%, a mail-in service 50–75%, and a pawn shop 40–60%. The spread exists because every buyer between you and the refinery takes a margin, and because smaller lots cost more to process per gram.
Look for a stamp, usually on a clasp, the inside of a ring band or the back of a pendant. US pieces are marked 10K, 14K or 18K. UK and European pieces carry a millesimal hallmark instead — 375 for 9 carat, 585 for 14 carat, 750 for 18 carat and 916 for 22 carat. An unmarked item is not necessarily fake, but any buyer will test it before quoting.
About $825.54 in melt value at the current gold price. A jeweller would typically offer somewhere between $619.15 and $742.99 for it, and a mail-in buyer considerably less.
Get more than one quote — the spread between buyers on the same lot is often 20 percentage points or more. Weigh and sort by karat yourself before going in, so you can check the offer against the melt value. Sell larger quantities in one lot where you can, since rates improve with weight. And check whether a piece is worth more intact: designer, antique and hallmarked collectable items regularly sell for well above their gold content.