How Much Is My Gold Chain Worth? Karat, Grams and Melt Math

A solid gold chain is worth its weight in gold first: with gold at about $4,000 an ounce as of October 2026, each gram holds about $53.60 of gold in 10K, $75.20 in 14K and $96.50 in 18K. A 20-gram 14K chain therefore holds about $1,500 of gold, and buyers typically pay 50-97 percent of that. Gold plated and gold filled chains are worth a few dollars.

So the answer comes from three facts you can find at home: the karat stamp, the weight in grams, and whether the chain is solid, hollow or only coated in gold. A brand name or a fine antique chain can add a premium on top of the metal, but for most chains the gold is the value.

Quick answer

• Value = grams x purity x the price of a gram of pure gold. At $4,000 an ounce, a gram of pure gold is about $128.60.
• Per gram at $4,000: 10K about $53.60, 14K about $75.20, 18K about $96.50.
• A hollow chain can look as big as a solid one and weigh a third as much. Weigh it; do not judge by size.
• GF, GP, HGE, RGP, "14K over sterling" and 925 stamps mean gold filled, plated or gold over silver, worth little as gold.
• Refiners pay about 90-97 percent of melt, local gold buyers 70-90 percent, and pawn shops often 50-80 percent.

How do you work out what a gold chain is worth, step by step?

Find the stamp, weigh the chain, do the math, then decide whether anything beyond the gold adds value. You need a loupe or phone magnifier and a kitchen or jewelry scale that reads to 0.1 gram.

1. Find the stamp. Look on the clasp, the small tag or jump ring next to the clasp, and the end links on both sides. On many chains the stamp is on the flat plate of the lobster clasp or on a tiny oval tag. Read it with magnification.
2. Read the karat. 10K or 417 means 41.7 percent gold. 14K or 585 means 58.5 percent. 18K or 750 means 75 percent. 22K or 916 means 91.6 percent. A "P" after the karat, as in 14KP, stands for plumb, meaning the full stated purity. Our guide on how to read jewelry hallmarks covers European and older marks.
3. Check both ends. A gold clasp on a plated chain is an old trick, and replacement clasps are common on worn chains. If the clasp is stamped 14K but the chain itself has no mark and the color differs, test the chain separately.
4. Look for plating and filled marks. GF, 1/20 14K GF or 12K GF means gold filled. GP, GE, HGE and RGP mean plated. 925 or "sterling" next to a gold color means silver with a gold layer, sometimes sold as vermeil or bonded gold. The gold filled vs gold plated guide explains each.
5. Look for a maker's mark. The FTC advises that a karat mark should have a company name or registered trademark next to it. Italian chains often carry a star, a number and a province code, such as 1 AR for UnoAERRE in Arezzo. A clean maker's mark makes the karat stamp more believable.
6. Weigh it in grams. Zero the scale, lay the chain in a small dish and read the weight. Remove pendants and charms and weigh them separately. A gram is not an ounce; spot is quoted per troy ounce of 31.1 grams.
7. Do the melt math. Multiply grams by purity by the price of a gram of pure gold, which is spot divided by 31.1035. At $4,000 that is $128.60.
8. Decide if it is worth more than melt. Branded pieces from Tiffany & Co. or Cartier, antique chains with fine handwork, and designer chains with a resale market can bring more as jewelry. Ordinary chains do not.
9. Get offers in grams and percent. Ask every buyer the weight they measured and the percentage of melt they pay. Our guide on where to sell gold compares buyers in detail.

How much is a gold chain worth per gram?

At $4,000 an ounce, 14K gold holds about $75.20 per gram. The table gives the gold value per gram and for some common chain weights. Kitco showed spot gold at about $3,874 an ounce on the afternoon of October 31, 2026, so at that day's price every figure below is about 3 percent lower.

These are melt figures, the value of the gold if the chain were refined. No buyer pays 100 percent, because refining and resale cost money. A gold filled chain does contain real gold, at least 10 karat by the FTC's definition, but it is only a thin layer, and refiners pay little for it in the small amounts most people have.

What do buyers actually pay for a gold chain?

A share of melt, which depends on who is buying. These are typical ranges, not quotes.

The key test of any offer is simple: divide the offer by your melt figure. A buyer offering $1,200 for a 20-gram 14K chain is paying about 80 percent at $4,000 gold.

Is my gold chain solid or hollow?

Weigh it and look at the ends. Hollow chains are made from gold tube and can be very light for their size. They are common in rope, Cuban, Franco, box and herringbone styles sold in malls and online.

• Weight for size. A chunky chain that feels light in the hand, or weighs only a few grams for 20 inches, is likely hollow.
• Dents and creases. Hollow links dent and crush flat where they have been pinched. Solid links do not.
• Cut ends. At a break or the clasp end, a hollow chain shows a tube; a solid chain shows metal all the way through.
• Semi-solid. Some chains are partly hollow and sold as semi-solid. They fall between the two.

Hollow chains are worth the same per gram as solid ones, but with fewer grams. They are also hard to repair once crushed, which matters if you hoped to sell one as jewelry.

Do brand names add value to a gold chain?

Sometimes. Chains from Tiffany & Co. and Cartier, and other recognized fine jewelry houses, often resell above their gold value on luxury resale sites, because buyers pay for the name and design. The premium depends on the specific piece and demand for it, and plain branded chains often sell only modestly above melt. Proof matters: a branded chain needs the brand's marks, and ideally a box, pouch or receipt, to be priced as branded.

Antique chains are a separate case. Victorian and Edwardian watch chains and fine handmade chains can be worth more than melt to collectors, especially in high karat with original clasps. Have one of these seen by an estate jeweler before selling it for scrap.

A worked example

Say you find a yellow rope chain, about 20 inches long, in a drawer. The lobster clasp reads 14K with a small Italian star mark and the tag next to it reads 585 Italy. It weighs 6.2 grams, which is light for a 4 mm rope, and one section is crushed flat: it is hollow. The melt math is 6.2 x 0.585 x $128.60, about $466. A local buyer paying 80 percent would offer about $373. If the same chain had weighed 24 grams and been solid, the gold would be worth about $1,805, and an 80 percent offer about $1,444.

How to sell a gold chain

Weigh and read the stamp on every chain first, then decide which buyer it goes to. Plain solid and hollow chains in 10K, 14K or 18K sell by the gram: a refiner or bullion dealer pays about 90-97 percent of melt and suits a heavier lot or broken chains, a local gold buyer or jeweler pays about 70-90 percent and tests in front of you, and a pawn shop often pays 50-80 percent. Mail-in cash for gold envelopes pay far below melt. Sell several plain chains together to a refiner as one weighed lot, and ask each buyer for the weight they measured and the percentage of melt they pay.

A chain from Tiffany & Co. or Cartier with its marks, box or receipt, and an antique Victorian or Edwardian chain with fine handwork, sells singly as jewelry on a luxury resale site, where the price can exceed melt minus fees; have an estate jeweler see the antique one first. Gold filled and plated chains are worth a few dollars and go in a costume jewelry lot, labeled GF or GP.

A buyer of a chain as jewelry needs the stamp on the clasp and tag sharp enough to read, the chain on a scale with the reading in grams, the whole chain beside a ruler, both ends and any break, and the brand marks.

Ship insured and tracked in a padded box.

Do not list a GF or GP chain as gold, and do not describe a hollow chain as solid. Declare crushed links, a replacement clasp and any missing section.

Common mistakes

• Judging by size instead of weight. Hollow chains look big and weigh little.
• Trusting the clasp alone. A gold clasp can be on a plated chain.
• Reading 1/20 14K GF as 14K gold. It is gold filled; the 1/20 is the share of the weight that is the gold layer.
• Weighing in ounces. Kitchen ounces are 28.35 grams; gold is priced in troy ounces of 31.1 grams. Use grams.
• Accepting a single offer for the whole bag. Ask for the weight and karat of each item and the percentage paid.
• Forgetting today's price. Gold moves daily. On October 31, 2026, it fell about 3.6 percent in a single day on Kitco.

How WorthPic reads gold chain photos

WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. From clear photos it reads the karat stamp and any maker's or country mark, recognizes plating and gold filled marks, identifies the chain style, and looks for signs of a hollow chain such as dents or crushed links. If a photo shows the chain on a scale, it uses the weight to work out the gold value and an honest US dollar range with a most likely figure, and it explains what a buyer is likely to pay. It says which extra photo would settle a doubt, usually a sharper close-up of the stamp or the scale reading. What it cannot know from photos is the true gold content: a stamp can be wrong or faked, and only a test settles that. It identifies and estimates. It does not test metal, authenticate, grade or appraise, and it is not a marketplace.

What to photograph

• The stamp on the clasp and on any tag, sharp enough to read every character.
• The chain on a scale showing the reading in grams, with pendants removed.
• The whole chain laid flat next to a ruler, for length and width.
• Both ends and any break, to show whether the links are solid or hollow.
• Any brand marks, box or receipt if you think it is a branded piece.

When to get it looked at in person

Any chain you plan to sell should be tested in front of you; a jeweler or gold buyer with an acid kit or an XRF analyzer can confirm the karat in minutes. That matters most for unmarked chains, chains with a mark only on the clasp, and heavy chains where a few percent of purity is real money. Get an estate jeweler's view before scrapping antique or branded chains. If you are not sure whether a whole box of jewelry is gold, start with our guide on whether old jewelry is real gold, and for the difference between karats, see 10K vs 14K vs 18K gold. Our jewelry value overview covers melt value, branded pieces and gemstones, and explains when a chain is worth more than its gold.

Sources

• Kitco: gold spot price: spot gold at about $3,874 an ounce at 3:07 p.m. ET on October 31, 2026, down about 3.6 percent on the day.
• FTC: Buying platinum, gold and silver jewelry: 14K means 14 parts gold in 24, gold filled means a layer of at least 10 karat gold on base metal, vermeil is gold over sterling, and a trademark should appear next to the karat mark.
• Wikipedia: Fineness: millesimal fineness of 417 for 10K, 585 for 14K, 750 for 18K and 916 for 22K, and 10K as the historical US minimum for gold.