Gold purity and how it affects value
How the gold market affects an offer: the wholesale gold market moves during trading, while jewellery contains different proportions of gold. Payable metal weight, confirmed purity and the condition or collectability of the item determine how that market relates to your offer. GoldPaid does not publish a price list or calculator. Send photos for a rough estimate where possible; your written offer follows inspection of your own items.
| Carat | Mark | Fine gold content |
|---|---|---|
| 9ct | 375 | 37.5% |
| 12ct (historic UK) | 500 | 50% |
| 14ct | 585 | 58.5% |
| 15ct (historic UK) | 625 | 62.5% |
| 18ct | 750 | 75% |
| 21ct (not a UK standard) | 875 | 87.5% |
| 22ct | 916 | about 91.7% |
| 24ct | 999 | 99.9% |
Got the piece in front of you? Get a figure for it
Send a photo of the piece and any stamp on WhatsApp. We will reply with a rough estimate for it. No obligation, and nothing needs posting.
No WhatsApp? Call 07944 014111, 8am to 9pm.
Not sure what the mark says? Use the hallmark lookup. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
How carat drives what your gold is worth
Gold jewellery is priced by how much fine gold it contains. Carat is the measure: 9ct gold is 37.5% pure (marked 375), 14ct is 58.5% (585), 18ct is 75% (750), 22ct is 91.7% (916) and 24ct is 99.9% (999). A gram of 18ct holds roughly twice the fine gold of a gram of 9ct, so, weight for weight, it is worth about twice as much. Weight does at least as much work as carat: a heavy 9ct chain can hold more fine gold than a small 22ct ring.
GoldPaid reads the purity by XRF rather than trusting the stamp, weighs each item, and prices it against the live precious-metal market with the margin already inside the figure. Every number is set out in a written offer before you decide. The full method is on how we value gold, and the marks are covered in the gold hallmark guide.
The gold price, in plain terms
The gold price is the live wholesale rate for fine 24ct gold, quoted per troy ounce and often converted to a per-gram figure in pounds. It is the market every carat is scaled down from by its purity. What you are paid for jewellery starts from that market, reflects the purity and weight we measure, and has the margin already inside the figure. The written offer follows an XRF test of your specific items and shows the calculation.
9ct gold, the most common British carat
Nine carat gold carries the mark 375, and GoldPaid reads that purity by XRF rather than taking the stamp on trust. That number is parts per thousand: 375 parts of every 1,000 by weight are fine gold, and the remaining 625 are copper, silver, zinc or palladium. One gram of 9ct therefore contains 0.375g of gold. Nine carat has been a legal British standard since 1854 and it dominates twentieth-century UK chains, wedding bands, signet rings, charm bracelets and lockets, which is why 9ct is the carat people most often ask about when they come to sell.
The arithmetic between carats is simpler than it looks. 9ct is 375 and 18ct is 750, so a gram of 18ct holds exactly twice the fine gold of a gram of 9ct, and the per-gram rates track that ratio closely. 22ct (916) holds roughly two and a half times, 24ct (999) roughly two and two-thirds. None of which makes 9ct a poor thing to sell, because weight does at least as much work as purity. A 30g 9ct curb chain carries 11.25g of fine gold; a 5g 18ct ring carries 3.75g. The chain is worth roughly three times the ring despite the lower carat.
Marks to look for: 375 inside a shield punch, or “9ct” and “9c” on older stamping, usually beside an assay-office mark (leopard’s head, anchor, rose or castle). Worn or missing marks are not a problem, and nothing needs testing at home. An XRF assay reads the actual alloy, and the offer is built on that reading rather than on the stamp. The gold hallmark guide shows the marks in detail.
From the market price to what a buyer can pay
Headline gold prices are quoted per troy ounce of fine (pure) gold. Jewellery is bought and sold per gram at a lower purity. Two conversions and one deduction sit between the headline figure and the rate a buyer can pay.
- Take the market price of gold in pounds per troy ounce.
- Divide by 31.1035, the number of grams in a troy ounce. That gives the market price of one gram of fine gold.
- Multiply by the purity decimal of your item: 0.375 for 9ct, 0.585 for 14ct, 0.750 for 18ct, 0.916 for 22ct, 0.999 for 24ct. That is the fine gold held in one gram of your alloy, valued at the market rate.
- Deduct the cost of turning jewellery into refined metal: assay, refining loss, sorting, carriage to the refiner and the buyer’s margin. What remains is the per-gram rate a buyer can pay.
No buyer pays the full market rate, and it is worth understanding why rather than treating the gap as a trick. Scrap jewellery is not refined metal. It has to be assayed, sorted, melted and refined before it can re-enter the bullion market, and there is a real cost and a small loss at every stage. A buyer who quotes the ounce price as though it were the payout per gram is quoting the wrong number entirely. What GoldPaid pays reflects that chain, with the margin already inside the figure and the calculation shown in your written offer.
What actually moves the gold price
Two things set the gold price in pounds. The first is the global gold price in US dollars, known as the spot price, set on international wholesale markets that trade around the clock five days a week. The second is the GBP/USD exchange rate. A weaker pound pushes the gold price in pounds up even when the dollar price is flat. That is why UK rates can move on a currency day as well as a commodity day.
- Global supply and demand, central-bank buying, jewellery demand in Asia, investment demand, and recycled-scrap flow.
- Interest rates and the dollar, gold is priced in dollars internationally, so a weaker dollar or lower real rates tend to push the price up.
- Risk sentiment, geopolitical events, market stress and inflation expectations all move gold as a perceived safe haven.
- GBP/USD, the rate you receive in pounds depends as much on sterling as on gold itself.
None of that means you should wait for a better day before posting. Gold moves both ways and timing the market is a separate skill to selling jewellery you no longer want. GoldPaid prices on the day we assess your items, with the rate shown in your written breakdown, so you see the figure before you decide.
Indicative versus firm, why GoldPaid will not quote a price sight-unseen
A headline market rate is a starting point, not an offer. Real items differ from their hallmarks: solder at clasp joints, repairs done over the years, replacement parts, mixed alloys and weighted bases all change the true metal content. That is why every firm GoldPaid offer follows an XRF assay of your specific items. Be wary of any buyer who guarantees a figure before seeing what you have: the figure they quote and the figure they pay are rarely the same.
Where the live gold price comes from
The best-known gold benchmark is the LBMA Gold Price. It is set twice each London business day, at 10.30am and 3pm UK time, in an electronic auction administered by ICE Benchmark Administration, in US dollars per troy ounce. The LBMA website publishes it with a delay, to midnight London time on the day it is set. GoldPaid prices against the live gold market rather than that twice-daily benchmark, converted to pounds at the prevailing GBP/USD rate. The rate in your written offer is the rate on the day we assess your items, not last week’s or a "headline" number from elsewhere.
Turning the market price into your figure
The market price becomes a real figure once it is matched to confirmed purity and weight. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market. If your items are broken or unhallmarked, the scrap gold value page explains how the same maths still applies, and how we value gold sets out the full method.
Selling gold by post
You do not need to live near a shop to sell gold. GoldPaid is a UK-wide postal service: you send a photo on WhatsApp for a rough estimate, request a free tracked label, and post when you are ready. Your parcel travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed, tracked and signed for. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post, and a larger lot can be split across more than one prepaid label at no charge. The full route is on sell gold by post UK.
What backs the offer up
- XRF spectrometry on every item, not a counter estimate
- A written, itemised breakdown before you decide anything
- Free tracked postage in, free tracked return out
- No countdowns, no pressure, no fabricated reviews
- An owner-run business whose founder, Rocco Clayfield, answers questions himself
What decides your offer
Every parcel is opened at our Bristol office and each piece is handled on its own. Nothing is averaged across the parcel.
- Weight. Each item is weighed on scales. Stones, steel springs, non-gold clasps and cores are not paid as gold. The written breakdown explains the payable metal weight for each item, rather than treating everything on the scales as precious metal.
- Purity. Each item is tested with an XRF analyser, which reads the metals at the points tested without marking the item. A surface reading alone cannot establish the composition of a plated or filled piece. Hallmarks, construction and different components all need to be considered alongside the test.
- The market on the day. Gold and silver are priced against the live precious-metal market at the time your parcel is assessed, not at the time you posted.
- Condition and intact value. Broken is fine and does not reduce a metal offer. Where a piece is worth more intact (a named maker, a collectable coin, a locket with provenance) we tell you before testing, so you can choose.
- Anything that is not gold or silver. Plated, rolled-gold and base-metal items are listed on the offer at nothing and returned to you free. We never quietly keep them.
Why we do not publish a per-gram price list. A single printed rate hides the things that change the figure: hollow versus solid, stones, mixed carats in one bag, a mark that does not match the metal. We would rather show you the weight, the tested purity and the figure for each item, in writing, and let you decide. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
What you see before you decide. A written, itemised offer by WhatsApp or email: every item, its weight, its tested purity, and its figure. Accept and we aim to pay by bank transfer within one working hour. Decline and the whole parcel comes back by Royal Mail Special Delivery at our cost. No fee, no deduction, no questions.
Common questions
What is the gold price per gram in the UK today?
A gold price per gram depends on the metal’s purity and the current wholesale market. That quotation is not an offer for jewellery: stones, fittings, construction and collectible value can change the assessment. GoldPaid does not publish a per-gram rate or calculator. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
Is my offer just a rate times the weight?
Once the purity and weight are confirmed, broadly yes: the figure reflects the live market for the confirmed carat, with our margin already inside it, so nothing further is taken off. What can change it is what the XRF test and the scales find, such as solder, repairs, stones, non-gold parts or a lower carat than the stamp suggests, and any move in the market before your parcel is assessed. Your written breakdown shows the purity, the payable weight and the calculation.
How often does what you pay change?
The live wholesale gold price moves continuously, so what you are paid moves with it. Your firm offer is priced against the market on the day we assess your items, not the date of this page.
Should I wait for the gold price to be higher before selling?
Honestly, that is impossible to call. Gold moves both ways and timing the market is a separate skill. If you have items you no longer want, the market today is what you can act on. If you have coins, send a photo on WhatsApp first and we will tell you how we would value them before you post anything. For the long record, see UK gold prices since 1980 and over the last ten years.
Is the margin taken off after you quote a figure?
No. The margin is already inside the figure you are offered, not taken off afterwards. Your written breakdown shows the rate used and the calculation against your assayed weight and purity, so you can check it.
How does a postal offer compare to a high-street pawnbroker?
Pawnbrokers and high-street gold-buyers carry shop rent, staff and rates that come out of what they can pay. GoldPaid is fully postal and that overhead structure is different, which is one reason the postal-first approach can be more competitive. The honest comparison, though, is whatever figure you see in writing in your offer. That is what to compare.
How do I get a rough idea of what my gold is worth?
Send a photo of your items and any stamp on WhatsApp and we will give you a rough estimate. It is only ever an estimate until an XRF assay confirms the purity and weight. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
Does the gold price change during the day?
Yes. The wholesale gold price trades almost around the clock and moves with both the USD gold price and the GBP/USD exchange rate. Your firm offer uses the market on the day your items are assessed.
Can I sell gold by post without visiting a shop?
Yes. GoldPaid is postal-only. Send a photo on WhatsApp for a rough estimate, request a free tracked label, and post when ready. Your parcel travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery, and Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post.
What is 9ct gold worth in the UK?
9ct gold is 37.5% pure gold, commonly marked 375. A selling value cannot be established from that stamp alone: we also check the item’s composition, payable weight, stones and fittings. Send a photograph for a rough estimate where possible; the final figure follows inspection and appears in your written offer.
How much is one gram of pure gold worth?
Fine gold follows the wholesale gold market, which changes during trading and with the sterling exchange rate. A wholesale quotation is not a buyer’s offer for an item. GoldPaid publishes no per-gram price or calculator; we provide an itemised written offer after inspection. The market price for fine gold always sits above any buyer figure, because scrap has to be assayed, melted and refined before it can return to the bullion market.
How much is 0.1 g of gold worth?
For a very small gold item, purity and accurate payable weight still matter. A kitchen scale may not resolve a tenth of a gram reliably, and plated material must not be assumed to be solid gold. Send a photograph first; small items may be assessed together with other pieces. GoldPaid does not publish a price list or calculator. Send photos for a rough estimate where possible; your written offer follows inspection of your own items.
How many grams are in a troy ounce of gold?
31.1034768 grams, rounded to 31.1035 in trade calculations. A troy ounce is heavier than the 28.35g ounce used for food, so the two are not interchangeable. To turn a headline price per troy ounce into a price per gram of fine gold, divide by 31.1035.
Is 18ct gold worth exactly twice as much per gram as 9ct?
By fine-gold content, yes: 750 parts per thousand against 375. In practice what a buyer pays tracks that ratio closely, with small differences because refining costs are not identical across carats, as a lower-carat alloy carries more base metal to separate.
How should I weigh my gold before sending it?
Any kitchen or letter scale reading to 0.1g gives a workable estimate. Weigh each carat separately, since a single weight covering mixed 9ct and 18ct cannot be multiplied by any one rate. Do not remove stones or break anything up: stones, clasps, spring bars and other non-gold parts are weighed and deducted here. Items are weighed here to the hundredth of a gram, so your figure and ours will differ a little.
Not the question you had? The full GoldPaid FAQ covers the rest, from postal cover and ID checks to what happens if you decline the offer.
Speak to us before you post
Please send us photos on WhatsApp, and we will help you. We give a rough estimate where possible and arrange postage with you after our conversation. Your final offer follows inspection.