Scrap Gold Calculator: Find the Honest Value of Your Broken Jewelry

That tangled necklace, single earring, or outdated ring is worth more than you think. Before you sell, use our tool to find its true melt value based on today’s live gold price. No fees, no sign-ups, just an honest number.

Understanding Your Result: Melt Value vs. A Cash Offer

The value shown by our calculator is the 100% full melt value of the raw gold content. Think of this as the raw material’s price on the global commodities market. It is your most powerful piece of information.

A gold buyer (a pawn shop, jeweler, or online mail-in service) must cover their costs, refining fees, their own business overhead, and a profit margin. Therefore, you should expect a cash offer between 70% and 90% of the melt value.

Our calculator gives you the 100% number so you can instantly know if an offer is fair. It’s your secret weapon for negotiation.

Don’t Know the Details? Here’s How to Check.

Look for a Hallmark (A Tiny Stamp)

Look closely at the clasp, inside the band, or on the post for a small stamp. You might need a magnifying glass. You’ll often see 10k, 14k, 18k, or a number like 417 (10k), 585 (14k), or 750 (18k). This stamp tells you the purity.

Weigh Your Gold

For a very good estimate, a digital kitchen or postage scale set to grams is perfect. Don’t have one? A US nickel weighs exactly 5 grams. You can use one to get a rough idea on a simple balance scale. Remember to remove any large non-gold parts like gemstones first.

What is ‘Scrap Gold’? More Than You Think.

You’re in the right place. “Scrap Gold” simply refers to any gold item where the value is in the raw metal itself, not its design or function. This includes:

  • Broken chains and tangled necklaces
  • Single earrings whose mates are lost
  • Rings that are bent, scratched, or out of style
  • Old class rings or corporate jewelry
  • Kinked or dented bracelets
  • Dental gold (crowns, bridges)

Knowledge is Your Best Asset

You have the melt value. You understand what a fair offer looks like. Now, the final step is learning how to sell your scrap gold safely and for the highest price, whether you choose a local jeweler or a reputable online buyer.

READ THE GUIDE: HOW TO SELL SCRAP GOLD SAFELY

Your Scrap Gold Questions, Answered

You’ve found the right place. Calculating the value of scrap gold—like broken chains, old rings, or single earrings—can feel confusing. This FAQ is designed to give you clear, honest answers so you can use our calculator with confidence and understand the true value of what you have.

Scrap gold is any gold item whose value comes from the metal itself, not its design or function. Think of it as gold that’s destined to be melted down and recycled. This includes broken jewelry, tangled chains, single earrings, old class rings, and even dental gold.

This is the most crucial first step. Our calculator is for solid gold only. Look for a small stamp (hallmark) on the item.

Plated/Fake Stamps: GP (Gold Plated), GEP (Gold Electroplated), HGE (Heavy Gold Electroplate), 1/10 GF (Gold Filled).
If you see a “plated” stamp, the item has no significant melt value. If there’s no stamp, it’s best to have it tested by a professional.

Solid Gold Stamps: 10K, 14K, 18K, 417, 585, 750.

The karat is the purity stamp mentioned above. If you have a pile of scrap, it’s very important to separate your items by karat before weighing them. Put all the 10K items in one pile, all the 14K in another, all the 18K in another, and so on. You will need to calculate the value for each pile separately to get an accurate total.

Yes, dental gold (like gold crowns) is very valuable. It’s often a high-karat alloy, typically between 10K and 20K. To use the calculator, you’ll need a jeweler to test its exact karat. Make sure any non-gold material (like a tooth) is completely removed before weighing.

For melt value, the color doesn’t matter, only the karat. A 14K white gold ring and a 14K yellow gold chain have the same amount of pure gold. As long as they have the same karat stamp, you can weigh them together.

It uses a simple, transparent gold conversion formula:
(Weight of Your Gold Pile) x (Purity % of that Karat) x (Live Market Price of Pure Gold)
It takes the live “spot price” of gold and calculates exactly how much the pure gold content in your scrap items is worth.

A digital kitchen food scale that measures in grams is a great starting point for a close estimate. For the most accurate payout, your eventual buyer will use a certified jewelry scale, but a kitchen scale will get you 99% of the way there.

Yes, absolutely. The calculator is for the weight of the gold only. Any stones, even tiny ones, will throw off the weight and give you an inaccurate estimate. A buyer will discount the weight for any stones anyway, so it’s best to remove them if you can for a true reading.

  • Grams (g): The most common and easiest unit to use. Most modern digital scales use grams.
  • Pennyweight (dwt): An older unit still used by many jewelers and pawn shops. 1 dwt = 1.555 grams.
  • Troy Ounce (ozt): The standard for large amounts of bullion (31.1 grams). You’ll likely be using grams or DWT for scrap.
    Use whichever unit your scale provides. Our calculator can convert it for you.

The spot price is the live, up-to-the-minute market price for one Troy Ounce of pure, 24K gold. It’s the baseline price used by all dealers worldwide. Our calculator pulls this live price to ensure your estimate is always current.

This is the most important question to understand. Our gold calculator shows you the 100% full melt value of your gold. A buyer—whether a local jeweler, pawn shop, or online refiner—is a business with costs. They make an offer that is a percentage of the full value to cover:

  • Refining Costs: The industrial process of melting and purifying your scrap.
  • Their Business Overhead: Rent, staff, insurance, etc.
  • Market Risk: The price of gold could drop between when they buy from you and when they sell to a refinery.

A reputable buyer will typically offer between 70% and 85% of the full melt value. If you have a very large quantity, you might get closer to 90%. Be very wary of offers below 65%—it might be a sign you should shop around.

You have several options, each with pros and cons:

  • Local Jewelers: Good for building a relationship and getting quick service, though their payout might be slightly lower.
  • Pawn Shops: Fast cash, but they typically offer the lowest percentage of all options.
  • Online Mail-in Refiners: Often offer the highest payout percentages because they have lower overhead. Look for well-established companies with many positive reviews on sites like the BBB or Trustpilot.

For scrap gold, weight and purity are all that matter. A heavy, broken 14K chain is worth far more than a beautiful, lightweight 10K ring. The buyer is not purchasing the item to resell as jewelry; they are purchasing it as raw material to be melted down.

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