Gold Price in Australia Today

GST and gold in Australia

Gold of at least 99.5% purity in investment form is GST-free in Australia, while jewelry carries the standard 10% GST. The GST Act defines “precious metal” by purity and form, so a 22K coin or any piece of jewelry falls outside it.

Capital gains

Gold is a capital gains tax asset. Individuals who hold it for more than 12 months can generally apply the 50% CGT discount, so only half of the gain is added to taxable income. Records of the purchase price matter; keep invoices for as long as you hold the metal.

Gold in a self-managed super fund

Self-managed superannuation funds may hold physical gold as an investment, but the metal must be owned by the fund, stored appropriately and not used or kept personally by the members. The rules are set by the ATO and change from time to time, so check current guidance before buying gold through a fund.

Bullion dealers are reporting entities under Australia’s anti-money-laundering laws, and cash transactions of A$10,000 or more are reported to AUSTRAC. Expect to show identification for larger purchases and sales.

The Perth Mint, the Kangaroo and the AUD price

The Perth Mint is owned by the Government of Western Australia and refines a large share of the country’s newly mined gold. Its flagship bullion coin launched in 1986 as the Australian Gold Nugget and has carried a kangaroo design since 1990, with the design changing each year. The 1 oz coin is legal tender with a face value of A$100.

The Mint’s Lunar series, with a different animal of the Chinese zodiac each year, is also widely traded, especially in Asia. The Royal Australian Mint in Canberra is a separate institution that makes the country’s circulating coins.

Dealers buy back Perth Mint coins and bars readily, usually close to spot, but damaged or heavily handled coins can fetch less. Keep coins in their capsules and bars in their original packaging with any certificate, since condition affects resale more than many buyers expect.

Buying Perth Mint products

• 99.99% coins and cast bars are GST-free.
• Annual design changes can give some years a collector premium.
• Fractional coins carry higher premiums per gram than the 1 oz size.

Converting the price into Australian dollars

The Australian price is the dollar price multiplied by the number of Australian dollars per U.S. dollar. At an example $3,000 per ounce and A$1.50 per U.S. dollar, an ounce is A$4,500 and a gram about A$144.68. A 9ct gram at that rate holds about A$54.26 of gold. These are worked examples; the live figures are in the table above.

The Australian dollar floats and often moves with commodity prices, so the local gold price can behave differently from the U.S. price over a year. A weaker Aussie dollar lifts gold in local terms, which is why Australian producers and investors watch both.

Doing the conversion yourself

1. Take the international price in U.S. dollars per ounce.
2. Multiply by the AUD/USD figure expressed as Australian dollars per U.S. dollar.
3. Divide by 31.1035 for the price per gram of pure gold.
4. Multiply by 0.375 for 9ct or 0.75 for 18ct.

Australians can also hold gold through exchange-traded products backed by physical metal and listed on the ASX, which track the same AUD price without storage.

For the U.S. dollar input, see today’s gold price per ounce.

Gold rushes, nuggets and fossicking

Australia’s gold history shapes its market. Gold rushes in New South Wales and Victoria began in 1851 and brought a wave of migration. In 1869 the Welcome Stranger nugget, one of the largest ever found, was unearthed at Moliagul in Victoria. Paddy Hannan’s find at Kalgoorlie in 1893 opened the Western Australian goldfields, where the huge open-cut Super Pit now operates.

The rushes also shaped Australian politics. In 1854 miners at Ballarat rebelled against licence fees at the Eureka Stockade, an event still seen as a milestone for democratic rights. Thousands of Chinese miners came to the goldfields in the 1850s, and their story is part of the history of towns such as Bendigo.

What that means today

• Australia is one of the world’s largest gold producers, and most of that gold is exported.
• Mining regions support a lively trade in natural nuggets and specimens.
• Prospecting remains a popular hobby, with licensing rules set by each state.

Nuggets, fossicking and melt value

Western Australia requires a miner’s right to prospect, and other states issue fossicking licences, so check the rules in your state before heading out. A natural nugget is gold alloyed with silver and other metals, and attractive specimens often sell above melt value.

Estimating what a nugget is worth

1. Clean off quartz and dirt, then weigh in grams.
2. Get a purity estimate from an XRF test or an assay.
3. Multiply grams × purity × the per-gram price above.
4. Treat anything a collector offers above that as specimen premium.

Shape, size and how much quartz is attached all affect the premium. A small, clean nugget may sell close to melt; a large, well-formed one can fetch far more.

Selling a nugget

• Get a written purity result before you accept an offer.
• Ask a specimen buyer and a refiner; the gap shows the collector premium.
• Do not clean with harsh chemicals; collectors value natural surfaces.
• Keep a record of where it was found in case of questions about the licence.

See the gold nugget price page for more on specimen pricing.

Jewelry purities, selling and a glossary

• 9ct (375) is the most common Australian jewelry purity.
• 18ct (750) is the usual choice for engagement rings.
• 22ct (916) appears mainly in Indian and Middle Eastern jewelry stores.
• Rolled gold and gold-plated items have little scrap value.

Australian jewelers and buyers quote per gram by carat, while bullion dealers quote per ounce and per kilo in AUD. A buyer’s per-gram 9ct rate should be a little under 37.5% of their 24ct rate; if it is much lower, the margin is wide.

When selling, bullion dealers pay close to spot for recognized coins and bars, while jewelry buyers pay per gram of the tested carat. The UK uses the same carat system; see the UK gold price.

For bar sizes, the gold price per kilo is handy.

Common mistakes

• Buying a 22K coin and forgetting the 10% GST.
• Reading a U.S. dollar chart as if it were the Australian price.
• Selling 9ct jewelry at the 24ct rate or assuming it is worth the same as 18ct.

Glossary

• Fossicking: small-scale searching for gold or gems.
• Miner’s right: the Western Australian prospecting permit.
• Kangaroo: the Perth Mint’s bullion coin, formerly the Nugget.
• AUSTRAC: the agency that receives reports from bullion dealers.
• Super Pit: the large open-cut gold mine at Kalgoorlie.
• Specimen premium: the amount a collector pays above melt value for a nugget.

For the ounce in U.S. dollars, see the gold price per ounce.

Other currencies are on the gold price by country list.