22K Gold Price per Gram Today

Crown gold: why bullion coins are struck in 22 karat

22K gold is 22 parts gold in 24, or 91.67%, so its value per gram is eleven-twelfths of the pure gold price. It is marked 22K or 916, and in the English-speaking world it has a long history as the standard for gold coins.

In Britain, 22 karat was known as crown gold, and the British sovereign has been struck in it for about two centuries. When South Africa launched the Krugerrand in 1967, and when the U.S. Mint launched the American Gold Eagle in 1986, both used 22K for the same practical reason: a harder alloy survives handling without the scratches and dents that pure gold picks up.

Why a one-ounce 22K coin weighs more than an ounce

A coin sold as one ounce of gold has to contain one full troy ounce of pure gold. At 91.67% fineness, that means the coin itself must weigh more: the extra is copper, and in the case of the Gold Eagle a little silver.

The practical gotcha: if you weigh a Gold Eagle and multiply 33.93 grams by 0.9167, you get 31.10 grams, exactly one troy ounce of gold. If instead you enter “1 ounce at 22K” into a calculator, you undercount the gold by one-twelfth. Coin specifics are on the American Gold Eagle page.

The Krugerrand’s alloy uses copper alone, which gives it a more orange tone than the Eagle. Its history and specifications are on the Krugerrand page.

22K jewelry from India: the BIS hallmark and HUID

Most 22K in American homes is jewelry from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or Nepal. In India, 22K is the everyday jewelry standard, and hallmarking by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) became mandatory in phases starting in June 2021.

What a current Indian hallmark contains

• The BIS logo, a triangular standard mark.
• The purity grade, written as 22K916 for 22 karat. Other grades include 18K750 and 14K585.
• A six-character alphanumeric HUID (Hallmark Unique Identification) code, which ties the individual piece to its hallmarking record.

Older Indian jewelry may carry an earlier style of BIS mark with the assay center’s logo, the jeweler’s mark and a year letter, or just “916” on its own. Many family pieces made before hallmarking spread carry no mark at all.

KDM is a solder, not a purity grade

“KDM gold” is a label that grew out of cadmium-based solder. Cadmium solder melts cleanly and let jewelers join 22K parts without lowering the purity much, so “KDM” came to be used in shops as shorthand for pure-looking 22K. Cadmium fumes are toxic to workers, and hallmarking has replaced KDM as the way to prove purity. A piece described as KDM isn’t guaranteed to be any particular karat; only a hallmark or a test tells you that.

Prices in rupees, and the way Indian cities quote 22K per gram and per 10 grams, are covered on the gold price in India page.

Regional weight units

Indian jewelers quote gold per gram or per 10 grams. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, families also count in the pavan or sovereign of 8 grams. Across South Asia and the Gulf, the tola of 11.664 grams is still widely understood.

Mixing these units is the most common error when comparing an Indian quote with an American one. An Indian rate “per 10 grams” has to be divided by 10 before it can be set against a U.S. price per gram, and a rupee figure usually includes local taxes and duties that a U.S. melt value doesn’t.

Valuing 22K jewelry in the United States

Searches for “22 carat gold price in USA” usually come from people who own 22K jewelry and want to know what it would fetch here. The answer starts with melt value, and then depends on what’s inside the piece.

To get real values, multiply any line by the gold price today divided by 3,000.

Steps before you sell a 22K set

1. Separate plain gold pieces from gem-set, enameled and kundan pieces. They are valued differently.
2. Weigh the plain pieces in grams. A 30-gram necklace of 22K holds 27.5 grams of gold, about $2,652 at the example price.
3. Ask how the buyer treats kundan and polki work. These pieces are often backed with lac, a resin filler, and set with stones or glass, so a large share of their weight is not gold.
4. Expect the buyer to test with an electronic or XRF tester, since U.S. counters see fewer 22K pieces and want confirmation.
5. Remember that the making charge paid in India is not recovered, just as with any karat bought at retail.

The 916 versus 22K rounding

The exact value of 22/24 is 916.7 thousandths. The hallmark shows 916, and buyers normally price on 91.6% or 91.67%. On a single bangle the difference is a few cents. On a kilogram of family gold, rounding is worth asking about.

22K bullion coins versus 22K jewelry

The metal is the same alloy, but the two are sold on different terms. A 22K bullion coin trades at the spot value of the pure gold it contains, plus or minus a dealer spread, and its weight and fineness are guaranteed by the issuing mint. Nobody needs to test a clean Gold Eagle before quoting it.

Jewelry trades at melt value minus the buyer’s margin, because it has to be tested, sorted and refined. That is why an ounce of gold in a 22K coin usually fetches more than an ounce of gold in a 22K chain.

• Coins: guaranteed content, fast to price, small spreads.
• Jewelry: content must be verified; stones, fillers and solder have to be accounted for.
• Both: priced from the same pure-gold spot figure, adjusted by weight and the 0.9167 factor.

Sovereigns and fractional Gold Eagles

Not every 22K coin is an ounce. The Gold Eagle is also struck in 1/2, 1/4 and 1/10 ounce sizes, each 22K and each containing its stated fraction of an ounce of pure gold. The sovereign holds 0.2354 troy ounce. Small coins carry a higher premium per ounce than one-ounce coins, since minting and handling costs are similar regardless of size. So four 1/4 oz Eagles contain the same gold as one 1 oz Eagle but usually cost more to buy. When selling, don’t assume the higher premium you paid on small coins will come back to you in full.

For melt purposes, though, the calculation doesn’t change: fine weight times spot. A 1/10 oz Eagle contains 0.1 troy ounce of gold, which is $300 at an example spot of $3,000.

If a 22K piece doesn’t fit either category, such as a gold medal or a commemorative bar, check whether the fineness is stamped. If it is 24K, as many bars are, the 24K gold price page is the right reference.