Scrap Gold Calculator
To value scrap gold, sort the pieces by karat, weigh each group in grams, and multiply each weight by its gold content and today’s price per gram. Add the groups together for the total melt value. Leave out plated or gold-filled items, and expect buyers to pay less than the total.
Got a box of mixed jewelry? Add each piece or each karat group as its own row and see the total melt value.
Tips
- Sort pieces by stamp first: 10K, 14K, 18K and so on.
- Weigh each group in grams.
- Leave out anything stamped GF, GP, RGP, HGE or “plated”.
- Remove stones where you can, or estimate the metal weight without them.
Why sorting by karat matters
If you hand over a mixed bag, a buyer may test the lowest karat and price everything at that level. Sorting and weighing each karat yourself lets you check that every group is priced correctly. 18K is worth about 28% more per gram than 14K, and 14K about 40% more than 10K, so the difference is real.
What counts as scrap gold
Broken chains, single earrings, outdated rings, dental gold and damaged pieces are all scrap. So is any jewelry you plan to sell for its metal. Items with a maker’s name, antiques and pieces with valuable stones may be worth more as jewelry than as metal, so get those valued separately.
What buyers pay for scrap
One refinery that publishes its terms, Northern Refineries in the US, says it pays 96% of the fine gold it recovers from karat gold for lots of 3 troy ounces or more, and 94% for smaller lots, based on the market price on the day the order is completed (Northern Refineries settlement terms, checked October 19, 2026). That is a refinery price for people who ship scrap to them. Jewelry stores, pawnshops, cash-for-gold shops and mail-in buyers set their own prices, which are not published in the same way, and they can be much lower. The only way to know is to ask several buyers for a written price per gram for your karat.
Frequently asked questions
How is scrap gold value calculated?
Weight in grams × gold content (for example 0.585 for 14K) × the spot price of one gram of pure gold. The spot price per troy ounce is divided by 31.1034768 to get the price per gram. See the method.
How much do gold buyers pay?
Less than melt value. One refinery that publishes its terms, Northern Refineries, pays 96% of the fine gold for 3 troy ounces or more of karat gold and 94% below that. Shops and pawnshops set their own prices and may pay much less, so get several written offers.
What does 585 or 750 mean on gold?
585 means 585 parts per thousand are gold, the same as 14K. 750 means 75% gold, the same as 18K. See gold hallmarks explained.
Where does the gold price come from and how often is it updated?
The spot price comes from gold-api.com. Our server fetches it at most every five minutes and the time it was fetched is shown with the result. Other currencies use the European Central Bank’s daily reference rates.