Selling Gold or Silver? Know What's It Worth!

You've been bombarded and possibly confused by the ads on television, radio and in your local newspaper telling you "special buyers" are in town for a limited time and will be paying "top dollar" for your unwanted gold and silver items.  Our advice: Whenever possible deal with someone local that you know, someone who has been in business in the area for a while and has a good reputation.  A reputable dealer will offer you 70 to 80% of today's spot gold price and possibly more it you have a large quantity to sell.

Selling Gold? Know It's Value!

What is the Spot Price?
Basically it is the daily selling price of precious metals on the Commodity's Exchange.  It is published daily in your newspaper or you can find it on the web.  Spot is figured on pure gold which is 24 karat gold.  So if your item is 24K it is figured at 100% of spot, but most gold is marked 12K (which is 50% of spot) or 18K (which is 75% of spot) and so on.  You can figure the percentage by dividing the karat by 24.  Spot is figured in Troy ounces, not the common Avoirdupois ounces we use at the grocery store and post office.  (There are 12 ounces in a Troy pound vs. 16 in an Avoirdupois pound, so a Troy ounce is heavier, about 1.1 avoirdupois ounces.) Something else you should know is there are 20 pennyweights (dwt) in a Troy ounce.  (A pennyweight is abbreviated dwt instead of pwt, because d, for the Roman denarius, was the abbreviation for penny before the British monetary system went decimal.)

Figuring the Value
Here is our formula for buying gold or silver:  The Spot value of your gold = today's Spot price (dollars per Troy ounce) X purety (karat of your gold/24 for 100% pure) X fractional weight (your gold in dwt/20 dwt per ounce) X % the buyer is paying.  A shorter form is Spot/480 X karat X dwt X % paid.  This is the most common formula precious metal buyers use when making an offer to buy your gold or silver and it is fair to both the seller and the buyer.