A question costs nothing
Before you decide anything, send a few clear photos of your sovereign rings on WhatsApp, or call. You will get an honest quick indicative figure and a straight answer about hallmarks, the postal cover, the XRF assay or the free return if you decline. None of it commits you to posting.
GoldPaid is a UK-wide postal gold and silver buying service with no branches. The flagship guide, selling gold by post in the UK, walks through how the whole thing works before you send a thing.
How is a sovereign ring valued?
Two numbers on the offer sheet: one for the coin, one for the mount. That matters because on a sovereign ring with a light 9ct bezel (3–5g), the coin is worth several times the mount at current rates, and lumping the whole ring together as "9ct" would underpay it materially. On a heavier 10–15g Oxford or plain-wire 9ct mount the split narrows, but the coin still carries the larger share; the exact ratio depends on the day's 22ct and 9ct rates and the mount's assayed weight, which is why the two lines are shown separately.
Typical weights and worked examples
The coin weights are standard: a full sovereign is 7.988g gross (7.322g fine gold), a half is 3.99g gross (3.66g fine gold). Mount weights vary widely by design, from a simple bezel of 3g up to a heavy plain-wire mount of 15g or more. Below is what a typical modern sovereign ring looks like on the offer sheet — coin and mount as separate lines.
| Piece on the offer sheet | Typical weight | What it is priced against |
|---|---|---|
| Full sovereign (loose in the mount) | 7.988g gross, 7.322g fine gold | Live 22ct spot per gram, plus any coin premium if flagged |
| Half sovereign | 3.99g gross, 3.66g fine gold | Live 22ct spot per gram, plus any coin premium if flagged |
| 9ct bezel/mount (light) | 3-6g | Live 9ct spot per gram, on the mount weight only |
| 9ct plain-wire or Oxford mount (medium) | 6-10g | Live 9ct spot per gram, on the mount weight only |
| 9ct heavy patterned mount | 10-15g | Live 9ct spot per gram, on the mount weight only |
| 18ct mount (less common) | 4-12g | Live 18ct spot per gram, on the mount weight only |
The full process, start to finish
- Ask, then send photos. Message us on WhatsApp with a few clear photos of your sovereign rings. Lay items flat, in daylight if you can, and include any hallmarks or carat stamps in shot. We reply with a quick indicative figure and answer anything you want to ask. There is no charge and no obligation.
- Request the prepaid label. When you are ready, we email a free Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed label, tracked and signed for. No printer is needed: ask for a QR code and the Post Office counter prints it for you.
- Pack and post, tracked. Wrap items in any padded envelope or a small box and attach the label. Hand the parcel in over the Post Office counter so you get a receipt with the tracking number. Keep that receipt. There is no deadline.
- We weigh, test and value. On arrival each item is weighed on calibrated scales and tested by XRF spectrometry to confirm purity. You receive a written, itemised offer showing the weight, the purity, the rate used and the figure for each item, usually on the working day your parcel arrives.
- Accept or decline. Accept and you are paid by bank transfer on Faster Payments. Decline and everything is returned to you free of charge by tracked, signed-for post. The choice is entirely yours, and you do not need to give a reason.
New to posting valuables? Read the flagship guide on selling gold by post in the UK for a fuller walk-through of every step.
What the offer is built on
Three measured things set every offer: confirmed purity from an XRF assay, accurate weight on calibrated scales, and the live precious-metal rate on the day. You read each figure in a written, itemised breakdown before you decide anything. To see the rates that move the figure, check the gold price today and the silver price today.
The written offer splits the ring into two lines: the coin at live 22ct spot (with any collector premium flagged where a rare year or mint mark applies), and the mount at the live rate for its assayed carat. Nothing is unset until you accept in writing. If you decline, the ring returns intact by tracked, signed-for post at our cost.
One parcel gets one written figure, itemised piece by piece. The published rates on this site are a floor, not a headline: for the gold and silver content of your parcel — assayed purity, payable weight, the rate on the day of assay — your written offer is never below the published per-gram rate. Collectables, sovereigns, watches and signed pieces in the same parcel are hand-valued and can come in above it.
When a specialist route beats scrap
Certain sovereign dates and mint marks are genuinely rare and clear well above metal value at a specialist coin auction (Baldwin's, Spink) or through the Royal Mint Historic Coin service. GoldPaid does not specialise in numismatics; we identify the flag, hold the ring intact, and recommend the specialist route before you decide. Common Victorian, Edwardian and Elizabeth II bullion sovereigns almost always sit at melt-plus, and the metal route is usually the right one for those. Full year-by-year detail sits in our sovereign value by year guide.
- Rare-year flags. Certain George V years (particularly some post-WWI dates), George VI proofs (proof-only issues, very rare), and mint marks other than London (S Sydney, M Melbourne, P Perth, I Bombay, C Ottawa, SA Pretoria) can beat metal considerably. We look, and we say so.
- Uncommon reverse designs. Young-Victoria shield-back reverse types are a specialist market.
- Mount vs coin split. If you keep the coin and sell just the mount, we can do that too. Say so on WhatsApp when you send photos.
Postage and cover
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. The label we send is Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed: tracked end to end and signed for on delivery. Cover level is confirmed with you on WhatsApp before the label is issued. If you believe your items are worth more, message us before posting. We will arrange the right approach, either extra cover or splitting the items across more than one parcel. Full detail is on postage and cover, and is it safe to post gold? walks through posting valuables safely.
Declining, made simple
A quick message is all it takes to decline, and you do not need to give a reason. Your items are then returned free of charge on a tracked, signed-for service, with no fee and no pressure to reconsider. What happens if I decline the offer covers it fully.
The payment step
Acceptance triggers payment: a direct bank transfer by Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance, to the account you give us. Nothing to bank and nothing to chase.
Built to be trusted, not just believed
- Owner-run, with founder Rocco Clayfield personally accountable for the service
- Every item XRF-assayed, the result shown to you in writing
- Free tracked postage both ways, so a valuation is genuinely no-obligation
- Honest about its limits, including when a specialist would suit you better
- No fabricated reviews and no invented numbers, anywhere on the site
Common questions
Do you buy the whole ring or just the sovereign?
Either. Most sellers post the whole ring intact and we quote the coin and the mount on separate lines of the same written offer. If you would rather keep the coin and sell only the mount (or vice versa), tell us on WhatsApp when you send photos and we quote it that way.
What if my sovereign turns out to be a copy?
The XRF assay tells us within seconds whether the coin is genuine 22ct gold. Non-gold copies do exist (usually gilt or gold-plated brass); we say so on the written offer and return the ring free of charge. Genuine sovereigns are almost always genuine because the mount was made to take a real coin, but the check is done on every ring.
Is a sovereign ring worth more than the scrap value of its parts?
Sometimes, yes. If the coin is a rare year or a rare mint mark, the combined market value beats scrap noticeably. If the ring is a well-made piece by a named maker, the same can be true. We flag both cases on the written offer and recommend the specialist route where it applies. The default answer for common sovereigns in a generic mount is that the sum of the two metal figures is the honest number.
Do I need to know the year of the sovereign?
No. Send a clear photo of both sides on WhatsApp and we identify the year, monarch, mint mark and reverse type. Most rings mount the coin with the head visible, so the date on the reverse is often obscured — the head still tells us the reign and narrows the year window.
What if the sovereign has been soldered into the mount?
Common. The solder is usually a lower carat than the coin, and the XRF assay reads the solder joint separately from the coin surface, so nothing is quietly averaged in. If you want the coin out intact and there is a specialist buyer route we recommend, we say so. Otherwise the whole ring is priced as coin plus mount.
Request a free prepaid Royal Mail label
Three quick steps. The label arrives by email, usually within about 30 minutes during working hours. Requesting one commits you to nothing: you get a written offer after the XRF assay, and if you decline, your items come back to you free.
Would you rather ask a question first, or send a photo? Message us on WhatsApp . It is the fastest way to get a sense of what something is worth before you post anything.