The best price for gold comes from a buyer who pays a high, stated percentage of melt. As of October 2026, with gold near $4,000 to $4,200 an ounce, 14K scrap holds about $75 of gold per gram. Refiners and bullion dealers typically pay 90 to 97 percent of melt, local gold buyers 70 to 90 percent, and pawn shops often 50 to 80 percent.
Melt is the number everything else is measured against, and you can work it out at your kitchen table with a scale. Once you know it, a low offer is easy to spot and easy to walk away from. Gold bullion coins and bars are a separate case: they sell close to spot to any bullion dealer, because nobody needs to melt them.
Quick answer
- Melt value = grams x purity x the price of a gram of pure gold. At $4,000 an ounce that gram is about $128.60.
- Per gram at $4,000: 10K about $54, 14K about $75, 18K about $96.50, 22K about $118.
- Bullion coins and bars: a bullion dealer, usually at or near spot.
- Scrap jewelry: a refiner or an established gold buyer at 85-97 percent of melt beats a pawn shop or a mail-in envelope.
- Ask every buyer two questions: the weight in grams, and the percentage of spot they are paying.
What is today's gold price?
Spot gold was about $4,170 an ounce on Kitco on the morning of October 19, 2026. In this guide we use a round $4,000 so the arithmetic is easy to follow; at $4,170, every gold figure here is about 4 percent higher. Gold moves daily, so check spot on the day you sell and do the math again. Spot is quoted per troy ounce, which is 31.1035 grams, not the 28.35-gram ounce on a kitchen scale.
How to work out the melt value, step by step
- Read the karat stamp. 10K or 417, 14K or 585, 18K or 750, 22K or 916, 24K or 999. A stamp you cannot read is a question for the buyer's test, not a guess. Our 10K vs 14K vs 18K guide shows the stamps.
- Rule out plated and filled. GF, GP, HGE, RGP, 1/20 12K and "gold filled" mean a thin layer of gold over base metal, worth a few dollars at most. A magnet that grabs the piece is a bad sign too. See gold filled vs gold plated.
- Weigh it in grams. A digital scale reading to 0.1 gram is enough. Weigh stones and non-gold parts separately if you can, and subtract them.
- Multiply by purity. 10K is 0.417, 14K 0.583, 18K 0.750, 22K 0.917, 24K 0.999.
- Multiply by the gram price of pure gold. Spot divided by 31.1035. At $4,000, that is $128.60.
- That is melt. Write it down. Every offer you get should be stated as a percentage of this number.
Real-world alloys often run a hair under their stamp, and solder joints add weight that is lower karat, so refiners assay slightly below the nominal purity. That is normal and accounts for a few percent, not 30.
Melt value per gram at $4,000 gold
| Karat (stamp) | Purity | Melt per gram | Melt per pennyweight | 10-gram chain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10K (417) | 41.7 percent | About $53.60 | About $83.40 | About $536 |
| 14K (585) | 58.3 percent | About $75.00 | About $116.60 | About $750 |
| 18K (750) | 75.0 percent | About $96.50 | About $150.00 | About $965 |
| 22K (916) | 91.7 percent | About $117.90 | About $183.30 | About $1,179 |
| 24K (999) | 99.9 percent | About $128.50 | About $199.80 | About $1,285 |
A pennyweight is 1.555 grams. Some buyers quote in pennyweight because the numbers look bigger per unit; convert before you compare.
Where is the best place to sell gold?
A refiner or a bullion dealer pays the highest percentage, and an established local buyer is the best mix of price and convenience. The table compares the main options as of October 2026.
| Where to sell | Typical payout | Fees and catches | Speed | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refiner (direct or mail-in) | About 90-97 percent of melt | Minimum lot sizes, assay fees, shipping | 1-3 weeks | Larger lots, 1 ounce of pure gold and up |
| Bullion dealer, local or online | Near spot for coins and bars; 85-95 percent of melt for scrap | Some do not buy jewelry | Same day to a week | Gold Eagles, Krugerrands, bars, larger scrap |
| Coin shop or established gold buyer | About 75-90 percent of melt | None posted; the margin is in the offer | Same day | Small to medium lots of scrap |
| Jeweler | About 70-85 percent of melt for scrap | May only buy scrap toward store credit | Same day | Pieces the jeweler can resell whole |
| Pawn shop | Often 50-80 percent of melt | Pays for speed; loan option at high interest | Same day | Cash in an hour, little else |
| Mail-in envelope buyers | Varies widely; tests have found very low offers | Melt before you agree is a risk | 1-3 weeks | Avoid unless the terms are written and you can reject |
| Hotel buying events | Often low | Temporary, hard to follow up | Same day | Avoid |
| eBay | Near or above melt for coins and bars | 13.6 percent up to $7,500 on bullion; jewelry 15 percent | 1-3 weeks | Collectible gold coins, signed pieces |
The mail-in warning is not theoretical. In a 2009 test run with Consumer Reports' help, Consumerist found Cash4Gold offering as little as 11 percent of the melt value of gold necklaces. In 2010 the FTC told Congress it had begun receiving complaints from people selling gold to online buyers, including cases where items were melted before the seller was paid. The payout ranges in the table are typical figures, not published rates. They vary by city, lot size and karat, and no single survey pins them down, so use them as a guide and ask each buyer for its own percentage. If you do sell by mail, use a company that states its payout percentage in writing, holds your items until you accept, and insures the return.
How do you test a gold offer?
Ask for the weight and the percentage of spot, then compare the offer with your melt figure. A fair buyer answers both questions without hesitation.
- Watch the weighing. The scale should be zeroed in front of you, and the reading should be in grams.
- Watch the testing. An acid test or an XRF reading should happen on the counter, not in a back room.
- Ask what spot they are using. Some buyers price off a lower figure than the day's spot.
- Ask for the number per karat. "We pay $60 a gram for 14K" is a clear offer. "We will give you $800 for the bag" is not.
- Leave and come back. A quote that is only good if you sell right now is a pressure tactic.
- Sell karats separately if the buyer pays differently by karat. Mixing 18K into a 10K pile can get it priced as 10K.
The FTC's jewelry guidance explains what each karat mark means, so you can check the stamp before the buyer does.
Worked example: a small bag of scrap
Say you have a broken 14K chain at 22 grams, a 10K class ring at 9 grams of metal after you account for the stone, and an 18K wedding band at 5 grams.
At $4,000 gold, melt is:
- Chain: 22 x 0.583 x $128.60 = about $1,649
- Class ring: 9 x 0.417 x $128.60 = about $483
- Band: 5 x 0.750 x $128.60 = about $482
Total melt is about $2,614. A pawn shop at 60 percent offers about $1,570. A coin shop at 85 percent offers about $2,220. A refiner paying 95 percent, less a $30 to $50 assay or shipping charge, comes to about $2,430 to $2,450 but takes a week or two. The difference between the worst and best offer is about $870, on a bag that fits in a pocket. At $4,170 spot, every figure is about 4 percent higher.
Common mistakes
- Not weighing first. Without a weight, you cannot judge any offer.
- Accepting a bag price. Ask for weight and percentage, karat by karat.
- Selling signed or antique pieces as scrap. A Cartier or a Victorian locket can be worth far more than its gold. See where to sell jewelry.
- Selling gold coins as scrap. A pre-1933 US gold coin can carry a collector premium over its gold; see US gold coins value.
- Confusing troy and kitchen ounces. A troy ounce is about 10 percent heavier.
- Mailing gold without written terms. Melted gold cannot be returned.
How WorthPic reads gold photos
WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. From photos it reads karat stamps and hallmarks, plated and filled marks such as GF and HGE, maker signatures, and the type of piece, and for coins and bars it reads the mint, the fineness and the stated weight. It then gives an honest US dollar range with a most likely figure, explains whether the value is the metal or something more, and asks for the close-up that would settle a doubt. What it cannot know from a photo is the true gold content or the exact weight, so it cannot tell solid gold from a good plated copy. It identifies and estimates. It does not test metal, authenticate, grade or appraise, and it is not a marketplace. For metal, the scale and the buyer's test decide.
What to photograph
- The karat stamp, close and sharp. It is usually inside a ring, on a clasp or on the tag near a clasp.
- The whole piece, front and back.
- The piece on a scale reading grams.
- Any maker's mark or signature.
- Both sides of a coin or bar, including the fineness and weight lines.
When to get it looked at in person
Every gold sale ends in person, because only a test settles the metal. A buyer with an XRF analyzer can read the alloy without damaging the piece; an acid test needs a small scratch on a touchstone. If a stamp is missing or a piece seems light for its size, get it tested before you make plans for the money. For anything signed, antique or set with a significant stone, talk to a jeweler who buys estate pieces first, and our guide on how to tell if gold is real covers the home checks.
Sources
- Kitco gold chart: spot near $4,168 on October 19, 2026
- FTC: Buying platinum, gold and silver jewelry: what karat marks mean and how gold filled and plated are defined
- FTC testimony on consumers who sell their jewelry (2010): complaints about online gold buyers melting items before payment
- Consumer Reports press release on the Consumerist mail-in gold test: offers as low as 11 percent of melt
- eBay selling fees: 13.6 percent on bullion up to $7,500 and 15 percent on jewelry