Whilst the Money4Gold saga continues to play out, Mike left a very interesting comment giving details on how you can work out the value of your gold yourself, to at least give yourself a ballpark figure of its scrap value if you’re looking to sell it:
…here’s how to make sure you don’t get ripped off. Go to any one of the websites (or Google apps) that tell you the daily price of pure gold. This will tell you the value of 24 carat gold per Troy ounce. There are approximately 31.1 grams in 1 Troy ounce, so if the price is (for example) £665 per Troy ounce, divide 665 by 31.1. This gives you the figure of 24 carat (pure) gold per gram. In this case it is £21.38. Then, if you are selling 9 carat gold, this is 37.5% pure, so multiply 21.38 by 0.375. In this case, this will give you a figure of £8.018 or nearly £8.02. Any gold buying institution that offers you eighty percent of this (£6.41) or over is (IMHO) playing very fairly indeed. They have to make their profits too or they would not be there to pay you for your unwanted jewellery.
To make it a bit easier, let’s break that equation down a little:
- Go to this site, and get the most recent gold price in £ GBP <— this is your PRICE
- Find out the purity (ie number of carats) of your gold – if you’ve got a few different types, you’ll have to group them together and value them seperately. For the equation, 24ct = 999, 22ct = 916, 18ct = 750, 14ct = 583 , 9ct =375 <— this is your PURITY
- Weigh each set of gold in grams. <— WEIGHT
- Get your calculator out and do the following sum, putting the values you found above in: PRICE / 31.1 / 999 * PURITY * WEIGHT = GOLD VALUE
- Remember that a gold buyer won’t offer the full amount, as they need to make some margin themselves, so look for offers of 80% or above, and you should be getting a reasonable deal.
Don’t forget also that we’re talking about the scrap value of the gold here, what it will be worth when it is melted down, and won’t take into account its design or sentimental value. It may well be worth more to you, but like anything, it’s only really worth what somebody is prepared to pay for it. If in doubt, you should seek the advice of a gold dealer.
photo credit: BullionVault