How to Calculate Gold Value
Gold comes in many forms including gold coins and bars as well as all sorts of jewelry. Most gold is not in pure form. The reason for this is that pure gold is so soft you can easily damage it. Gold is normally alloyed with another metal to make it harder. While this does make a gold object more durable, it complicates the task of calculating gold value. You may have to convert the weight of gold into Troy ounces, since this is the measure used when the price of gold is quoted on world markets.
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Things You'll Need
- Current gold prices
- Magnifying glass (for small items)
- Precision scale
- Calculator
Instructions
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Weigh the item of gold using a precision scale (the kind used in a chemistry lab is fine if you don't have access to a jeweler's scale). If the scale is calibrated in grams or regular (Avoirdupois) ounces you must convert to Troy ounces. To do this, divide the weight in grams by 31.10 (the number of grams in 1 Troy ounce) to find the weight in Troy answers. For example, if the object weighs 77.75 grams, divide by 31.10 for a weight of 2.50 Troy ounces. For regular ounces, divide by 1.097 to convert to Troy ounces.
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2
Determine the proportion of actual gold. Gold jewelry has a jeweler's mark located on it that tells you the karat weight (for small pieces you may need a magnifying glass to read it). Gold is rated in karats. 24K is pure gold. Most gold jewelry ranges from 14K to 22K. This means the item contains that many parts out of 24 of real gold. For example, 18K gold jewelry contains 18/24 (75 percent) gold (for a karat/percentage conversion chart, see link under Resources). Gold bars have the proportion of gold stamped on them. For coins, you have to look up the type of coin in a catalogue such as the online listing provided by Professional Coin Grading Service (see Resources).
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Find the amount of gold in the item. Once you know the weight in Troy ounces and the percentage of gold present, multiply the two numbers. For example, a 2.5 Troy ounce item that is 75 percent (18K) gold contains 2.5 times 75 percent or 1.875 Troy ounces of gold.
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Calculate the gold value of the item. Gold is traded as a commodity and its value per Troy ounce is quoted daily on many websites (see Resources). Multiply the current price of gold by the number Troy ounces to find the gold value. Suppose the current price is $800 per Troy ounce. Using the previous example, you multiply 1.875 by $800. The gold value works out to $1,500.
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Tips & Warnings
Some pieces of jewelry contain materials other than gold. For these, you probably need a jeweler to determine exactly how much gold is in the item so you can calculate the gold value.
