Find the melt value of gold jewelry, coins or dental gold at today's live price, and the range most US buyers will offer. Weigh your piece on a kitchen or jewelry scale, pick the unit and the karat stamped on it.
Melt value of your jewelry at today's spot. Buyers typically pay 70–90% of it.
| Karat | Per gram | Per dwt |
|---|---|---|
| 24K | $134.52 | $209.20 |
| 22K | $123.44 | $191.97 |
| 18K | $100.99 | $157.06 |
| 14K | $78.77 | $122.50 |
| 10K | $56.15 | $87.32 |
Melt values at spot. Cash offers are typically 70–90% of these.
Multiply the weight in grams by the karat purity and by the spot price per gram. Today pure gold is $134.65 per gram, so 10 grams of 14K (58.5%) gold is worth $787.72 in melt value.
Look for a stamp inside a ring band or near a clasp: 10K or 417, 14K or 585, 18K or 750, 22K or 916, 24K or 999. Stamps like GF, GP, HGE or RGP mean gold-filled or plated, which has almost no scrap value.
Pawn shops usually pay 60–80% of melt value, jewelers and local gold buyers 70–85%, and refiners or high-volume buyers up to 90% or more. Getting two or three quotes is the easiest way to add 10–20% to your payout.
A pennyweight (dwt) is 1/20 of a troy ounce, or 1.555 grams. Many US jewelers weigh scrap in pennyweight; 14K gold is worth $122.50 per dwt today.
Yes. Buyers weigh the whole piece, but stones and enamel are not gold. Diamonds over a quarter carat are worth appraising separately; small chips and cubic zirconia add nothing to a scrap offer.