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Selling Scrap Gold
Misc Tip: Selling Scrap Gold
Contributor: Lee Wiese
Tip: We have all seen newspaper ads and in some cases street corner signs. We buy YOUR Gold & Silver. We pay the highest price for YOUR Gold and Silver, etc, etc.
What you never see or hear about is detail as to what they will pay on the Gold or Silver melt amount & valve. Melt amount is the actual Gold or Silver content in a scrap piece of jewelry or a coin. The calculation required to determine the melt valve is to multiply the weight of the Gold or Silver content times the market price of the precious metal.
Following is an example. You have a 14K Gold ring that weights 10 grams. What is the melt amount & valve? The gold purity for 14K is 58.3 %. The formula is the ring's weight, 10 grams, times .583 which equals 5.83 grams of Gold melt amount in the 14K ring.
You then locate the market price for an ounce of gold. To keep it simple let's say the market valve is $1,000 per ounce. Next take the market price of $1,000 divided by 31.1 grams See Note this equals the market price of $32.15 per Gold gram. Take 5.83 grams (the melt amount) times $32.15 (market price of a gram of Gold) this equals $187.43. Thus $187.43 is the melt valve of the 14K Gold ring.
A precious metal refiner will usually pay 95 - 98% of market price for Gold. So using the example of the gold ring's melt valve of $187.43 you could expect $178.06 - $183.68 from a refiner for the ring's gold content.
Generally, Cash for Gold organizations will never use this process and instead pay something like 25% to 50% of the calculated valve of the gold content to the seller. This will probably amount to $46.85 to $93.78 for the ring's Gold content. To get the highest price will require a good deal of bargaining by the seller.
So the best approach is to use a precious metal refiner. This will get the greatest return for your precious metals.
I am adding a link to the MDHTALK Gold and Silver Calculator. Calculator Link
Note: One Ounce = 31.1 grams