Scrap Gold Calculator
Enter the live 24K gold price, the weight of your scrap in each karat and the share of melt value the buyer pays. The calculator shows your pure gold content, the full melt value and the expected offer. Use the price from the live table above.
Live scrap gold value in US dollars
| Weight & purity | Live price |
|---|---|
| 24K · 1 gram | live |
| 22K · 1 gram | live |
| 18K · 1 gram | live |
| 14K · 1 gram | live |
| 10K · 1 gram | live |
| 14K · 1 pennyweight | live |
| 10K · 1 pennyweight | live |
| 24K · 1 troy ounce | live |
100% melt value at the live international price (FX_IDC:XAUUSDG × purity). Buyers pay a percentage of this. Method
Scrap gold calculator
How to use the calculator
- Enter the price of 24K gold. Copy the 24K figure from the live table above and set "Price is per" to gram (or troy ounce, 10 grams or tola if you copied that).
- Enter the payout percentage a buyer has quoted. 85% is pre-filled as a typical starting figure.
- Enter the weight in grams of each karat you have: 10K, 14K, 18K, 22K and 24K. If your scale reads in pennyweight, multiply by 1.55517 first.
The formula
Pure gold = 10K g × 0.417 + 14K g × 0.585 + 18K g × 0.75 + 22K g × 0.916 + 24K g
Melt value = pure gold × 24K price per gram
Expected offer = melt value × payout %
Worked example
Suppose 24K gold is US$133.00 per gram (illustrative). You have 10 g of 14K, 5 g of 18K and 3 g of 10K, and a buyer pays 85% of melt.
- Pure gold: (10 × 0.585) + (5 × 0.75) + (3 × 0.417) = 5.85 + 3.75 + 1.251 = 10.851 g
- Melt value: 10.851 × 133.00 = US$1,443.18
- Offer at 85%: 1,443.183 × 0.85 = US$1,226.71
Typical payouts
Payout percentages are set by each buyer and change with lot size, testing costs and competition. As a rough guide only, these ranges are typical:
| Buyer | Typical share of melt |
|---|---|
| Refiners and bullion dealers, larger lots | about 90–98% |
| Local jewellers and coin shops | about 70–90% |
| Pawn shops, mail-in and pop-up "cash for gold" buyers | often 50–80%, sometimes lower |
These are typical, not guaranteed. Ask each buyer for the percentage and the price they are using, then check both with this calculator.
Interpretation tips
- Sort by karat stamp before weighing; a single blended price per gram usually underpays for 18K and 22K.
- Remove stones where you can, or ask the buyer to deduct their weight. Gold-filled and plated items (GF, GP, HGE) are not solid gold.
- US 14K is made to about 58.3% gold, slightly under the 0.585 factor used here; expect a fraction of a percent less on US pieces.
- The table is in US dollars. For other currencies, take the 24K price from the gold calculator page and enter it here.
- Read how to sell gold for testing methods and what ID buyers ask for.