How Much Is My Gold Worth?
14K gold · live melt value
$81.45per gram
Calculate your gold
Melt value
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What buyers actually pay
Melt value is what the metal is worth. It is not what anyone will hand you. Every buyer subtracts refining, assay, shipping, insurance and their own margin.
- Melt value 100% of melt
- Online refiner (mail-in) 75%–90% of melt
- Local gold buyer / jeweler 60%–75% of melt
- Pawn shop 40%–60% of melt
Enter a weight to see your estimate.
These ranges are estimates built from published buyer terms and commonly reported industry spreads — not a proprietary dataset, and not a quote. Your actual offer depends on the piece, the buyer and the day. See how we calculate this.
Melt value is not what you get paid
Every gold calculator on the first page of Google gives you the same number: the melt value. It is the market price of the metal in your piece, and it is genuinely useful — it is the right place to start. But it is not an offer, and no buyer on earth will pay it.
The reason almost nobody publishes the second number is straightforward. Most gold calculators are run by refineries, pawn chains and buyers, and printing their own spread is not in their interest. We do not buy gold, so we can.
The ranges above come from published buyer terms and commonly reported industry spreads. They are estimates and we say so on every page. What they give you is a sense of whether the offer in front of you is normal for that kind of buyer, or whether you should walk. Our methodology page shows the arithmetic and is honest about what we have not yet verified.
Gold price per gram, by karat
| Karat | Gold content | Melt value / gram | Online refiner pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24K | 99.9% | $139.50 | $104.63–$125.55 |
| 22K | 91.7% | $128.01 | $96.01–$115.21 |
| 18K | 75.0% | $104.73 | $78.55–$94.26 |
| 14K | 58.3% | $81.45 | $61.09–$73.31 |
| 10K | 41.7% | $58.19 | $43.64–$52.37 |
Pick your karat for a full breakdown, unit conversions to pennyweight and troy ounces, and what typical pieces at that karat are worth.
Before you sell
- Weigh it yourself. A kitchen scale that reads to 0.1 g is enough to catch a serious discrepancy.
- Sort by karat stamp. A mixed pile gets valued at the lowest karat in it.
- Get three offers. The spread between buyers on the same lot is routinely wider than people expect.
- Watch for coins and signed pieces. Bullion and designer jewelry are worth more intact than melted, sometimes far more.
- Ask to see the test. Reputable buyers assay in front of you and explain the result.
Questions about selling gold
How much is my gold worth?
Multiply the weight of your piece in grams by the price per gram for its karat, which gives you the melt value of the metal. Then expect a buyer to offer somewhere between 40% and 90% of that figure depending on who they are. The calculator above does both steps for you.
Why do buyers pay less than melt value?
Because a buyer has to assay your metal, refine it, ship and insure it, and make a margin on the transaction. Those costs are real and they come out of the melt figure. What varies enormously is how much margin sits on top, and that is what nobody tells you before you walk in.
Where do I get the most money for scrap gold?
For larger lots, mail-in refiners generally pay the highest percentage because their fixed costs are spread across more metal. For small amounts, a local buyer often nets you more because you are not losing money to shipping and minimums. Pawn shops are usually the lowest, since they price for immediate liquidity and risk.
Do I need to know the karat before I sell?
It helps enormously. Look for a stamp reading 10K, 14K, 18K, 22K, 24K, or the numeric equivalents 417, 585, 750, 916 and 999. If you cannot find a stamp, a buyer will test the piece, but knowing what you have before you go removes the main information asymmetry in the transaction.
Is this calculator free, and do you buy gold?
It is free and we do not buy gold. We are not a refiner, a pawn shop or a jeweler, which is why we are willing to publish what buyers actually pay. Most gold calculators on the web belong to someone who wants to buy your metal.