tools · pricing
gold price calculator.
the melt value of any gold piece, from the live spot price. set the karat and weight to get the value per gram, the full melt, and a realistic dealer payout.
refiners and pawn shops pay a spread below melt. drop the payout to estimate a real offer, not the theoretical melt value.
melt value
$391.61
- 14K price per gram
- $78.32
- gold purity
- 58.3%
- weight
- 5.00 g
melt value only: the worth of the raw gold. it excludes stones, craftsmanship, and brand. a finished piece is usually worth more than its melt.
gold price per gram, by karat
| karat | stamp | purity | per gram |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24K | 999 | 100.0% | $134.26 |
| 22K | 916 | 91.7% | $123.08 |
| 21K | 875 | 87.5% | $117.48 |
| 18K | 750 | 75.0% | $100.70 |
| 14K | 585 | 58.3% | $78.32 |
| 10K | 417 | 41.7% | $55.94 |
| 9K | 375 | 37.5% | $50.35 |
the math
how gold value is calculated.
gold is priced by the troy ounce, which is 31.1 grams. that headline number, the spot price, is for pure 24k gold. every other calculation starts there.
divide spot by 31.1 and you have the price of one gram of pure gold. multiply by the piece's purity and its weight and you have the melt value:
(spot ÷ 31.1) × purity × grams = melt value
purity comes from the karat. 24k is pure gold, so its purity is 1.0. 18k is 18 parts gold out of 24, or 0.75. 14k is 0.583. the lower the karat, the less gold, the lower the melt.
reading the karat
not sure what karat your piece is?
the karat is stamped inside most gold jewelry, often as a three-digit fineness mark rather than a karat number. these are the same thing.
375
9K · 37.5% gold
585
14K · 58.5% gold
750
18K · 75% gold
999
24K · pure gold
a full list of gold, silver, and platinum stamps, including plating marks that are not solid gold at all, is in the hallmark decoder.
melt vs. offer
why an offer is lower than melt.
melt value is the theoretical worth of the raw gold. nobody pays full melt for scrap, because whoever buys it has to refine it, carry the risk, and take a margin.
as a rough guide: a refiner buying in volume pays around 90% of melt, a jewelry or gold buyer 70 to 85%, and a pawn shop often less. the payout control in the calculator lets you model each of these against the live melt value, so you walk in knowing the floor and the realistic number.
the opposite is true if you make jewelry. a finished, well-photographed piece sells for a multiple of its melt. the gold is the smallest part of what a buyer is paying for.
questions
gold pricing, answered.
for jewelers, not scrappers
a finished piece is worth more than its gold.
bling ai turns an iphone photo of your jewelry into a campaign-ready shot, so buyers pay for the piece, not the melt.
