What is my gold worth?
Enter the purity and the weight, and we will work out the metal value at today's spot price plus what a buyer realistically pays for it.
Weigh without stones, cords or clasps made of another metal.
Where the price comes from
The spot price comes from the global market (XAU, XAG, XPT and XPD in USD), converted to Polish zloty at the NBP rate and refreshed hourly. Gold follows the NBP quotation for 999 fine gold.
How to value gold step by step
- 1
Find the hallmark
Look for a stamped number: inside a ring band, near a chain clasp or on an earring post. 585, 750 and 333 are fineness in thousandths, 14K and 18K are the same fact in karats.
- 2
Weigh without extras
Use a scale accurate to 0.01 g. Remove or deduct stones, cords, elastics and clasps made of another metal, because a buyer does not pay for them.
- 3
Separate the purities
Weigh each fineness on its own. Putting a 750 ring and a 333 chain on the same pan gives a figure that cannot be converted correctly.
- 4
Calculate and read the band
Enter the fineness and the weight. The top figure is the value of the metal itself, the lower one is what you can realistically expect from a buyer.
Fineness and karat
Fineness is the amount of pure gold in an alloy expressed in thousandths. Karat is the same fact in twenty-fourths. Gold 585 holds 58.5% pure gold, which is 14 parts out of 24, and that is why it is also stamped 14K.
| Fineness | Karat | Gold content | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 999 | 24K | 99.9% | Investment bars and coins |
| 916 | 22K | 91.6% | Coins, Middle Eastern and Indian jewelry |
| 750 | 18K | 75.0% | Higher-end jewelry, the Western European standard |
| 585 | 14K | 58.5% | The most common fineness in Poland and Germany |
| 417 | 10K | 41.7% | American jewelry |
| 375 | 9K | 37.5% | British jewelry |
| 333 | 8K | 33.3% | Older German jewelry, not used in Poland |
Why a buyer pays less than the metal is worth
A buyer has to earn, and before resale the metal goes to a refinery, which costs money and takes time. Then there is risk: until scrap is melted and assayed, the buyer knows the purity only from a stamp. Hence the 70 to 90% band. The low end applies to single light pieces and low purities, the high end to larger lots of 585 and above.
There is another side to this. Signed, antique or simply attractive and intact pieces are often worth several times more as jewelry than as raw material. Before selling something by weight, check whether you are selling a design at the price of metal.
Common questions
How much will I get for a gram of 585 gold?
Between 70 and 90% of the metal value. In 585 gold the metal value is 58.5% of the price of pure gold per gram, so a buyer pays roughly 41 to 53% of the 999 gold price. The exact rate depends on the size of the lot and on whether the buyer has to verify the purity first.
Do the stones in a ring count towards the weight?
No. A buyer purchases metal, and stones are ballast that has to be removed. Cubic zirconia is usually lost. A diamond, sapphire or emerald of any real size is worth removing and valuing separately, because it can be worth more than the whole setting.
What is 585 fineness in karat?
14 karat. Fineness states the pure gold content in thousandths, karat in twenty-fourths. 585 thousandths is 58.5%, and 14 parts out of 24 is 58.3%, so both numbers describe the same alloy.
My jewelry has no hallmark. What now?
A missing stamp does not mean it is not gold, but you cannot establish the fineness by eye. A jeweler or a buyer will test it with a touchstone and acids or with an XRF spectrometer, usually free of charge and without damaging the piece. Only with that result does the calculator mean anything.
Is white gold worth the same as yellow?
At the same fineness, yes. The colour comes from the alloying metals, which do not matter for valuation. White gold 585 holds exactly as much pure gold as yellow 585. Rhodium plating adds no value.
Is it worth selling old jewelry by weight?
Not always. Signed, pre-war or simply intact and attractive pieces can be worth several times the metal value on the secondary market. Selling by weight makes sense for damaged, bent and odd single pieces that nobody would buy as jewelry.
Can old gold be remade instead of sold?
Yes, and it often works out better. We accept metal you supply, melt it down and make a new piece from it. You then pay for the work and any material shortfall, instead of losing both the buyer's margin and the margin on buying new gold.
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