Gold Price in the UK Today

Hallmarks and 9 carat: what UK stamps tell you

Under the Hallmarking Act 1973, gold sold as gold in the UK must carry a hallmark from an official assay office unless it weighs under 1 gram. That makes the UK one of the easiest places in the world to confirm purity at a glance, and it is why British buyers rarely pay for an acid test on a hallmarked piece.

The system is old. A statute of 1300 first required gold and silver to be tested, and the word “hallmark” comes from Goldsmiths’ Hall in London, where items were brought to be marked. Today four assay offices do the work.

The four assay offices

Reading a full hallmark

1. The sponsor’s mark: initials of the maker or importer inside a shield.
2. The fineness mark: a number in parts per thousand inside a shaped shield.
3. The assay office symbol from the table above.
4. An optional date letter showing the year of assay.
5. Sometimes a Common Control Mark, used under the international Hallmarking Convention that the UK belongs to.

Jewelers must display the official Dealer’s Notice explaining these marks, so you can check any piece against it in the shop.

9 carat and the British carat habit

British jewelry uses “ct” rather than “K,” and the most common purity by far is 9ct, stamped 375. It is the lowest standard that can be hallmarked as gold in the UK, and it is popular because it is hard-wearing and much cheaper per gram than 18ct.

Because 9ct is nearly two-thirds other metals, mostly silver and copper, its color varies between makers and it can dull or tarnish slightly over the years in a way 18ct does not. That is normal and says nothing about whether the hallmark is genuine.

Worked example: melt value of a 9ct chain

A 10 g chain stamped 375 contains 10 × 0.375 = 3.75 g of pure gold. Multiply that by the 24ct price per gram in pounds from the table above and you have its melt value. A scrap buyer will pay somewhat less, because refining and margin come out of it. The same weight in 18ct holds exactly twice as much gold.

You can run the numbers for any carat with our scrap gold calculator.

VAT, capital gains, the sovereign and the Britannia

Investment gold has been exempt from VAT in the UK since 1 January 2000. The definition follows the European rules the UK adopted: bars of at least 995 fineness in accepted weights, and coins of at least 900 fineness minted after 1800 that are or were legal tender. Jewelry carries the standard 20% VAT on the full price.

Capital Gains Tax

Gold coins that are UK legal tender, including the sovereign and the Britannia, are exempt from Capital Gains Tax for individuals. Bars and foreign coins are not; gains on them count toward your CGT position, although only gains above the annual exempt amount are taxed. That amount has been £3,000 since April 2024.

• A sovereign sold for more than you paid produces no CGT for a private individual.
• A 1 oz bar sold at a gain can be taxable if your total gains exceed the exemption.
• Jewelry is a chattel for CGT purposes, with its own rules and thresholds; check current rules with HMRC for valuable pieces.

Gold bought abroad

Jewelry bought on holiday counts toward your personal allowance when you return to the UK, and import VAT and any duty apply above it. Investment gold follows its own rules. Check current HMRC guidance before bringing back anything valuable, and keep the foreign receipt.

The combination of no VAT and no CGT explains why UK bullion buyers favor Royal Mint coins over bars of the same weight, even when the coins carry a higher premium.

The sovereign and the Britannia

The modern gold sovereign dates from 1817, after the Great Recoinage. It weighs 7.98805 g of 22ct gold and holds 7.3224 g of fine gold, with a face value of £1. Half sovereigns, double sovereigns and quarter sovereigns are also struck.

The gold Britannia was launched in 1987. It was struck in 22ct gold until 2012 and in 999.9 gold from 2013. The 1 oz coin has a face value of £100 and carries anti-counterfeit features on modern issues.

Branch mints and dates

Sovereigns were also struck at branch mints across the empire, including Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Ottawa, Bombay and Pretoria, each identified by a small mint mark. Common dates trade as bullion close to their gold value; scarcer dates and mint marks, and coins in exceptional condition, carry collector premiums. A dealer quoting “bullion sovereigns” usually means mixed common dates.

Coin or bar?

• Coins: CGT-free for individuals, easy to sell in small units, higher premium per gram.
• Bars: lower premium per gram, especially at 100 g and above, but gains can be taxed.
• Both: VAT-free as investment gold.

More detail on the coin, including its weight tolerances and history, is on our British gold sovereign page.

“Pound of gold” searches mean weight, not sterling

Many people asking how much a pound of gold is worth mean weight, and there are two different pounds:

• A troy pound is 12 troy ounces, or 373.24 g. It is rarely used today.
• An avoirdupois pound, the one on a kitchen scale, is 453.59 g, or about 14.58 troy ounces.

Multiply the ounce price by 14.58 for an avoirdupois pound of pure gold. The dollar version of that sum starts from the gold price today per ounce.

How the sterling price is set

London is the center of the wholesale market, but the LBMA Gold Price is set in U.S. dollars twice a day, with sterling and euro equivalents published alongside. The pound price therefore moves with both gold and the GBP/USD exchange rate. On days when sterling falls sharply, UK buyers see gold rise in pounds even if the dollar price is flat.

For bigger amounts, the gold price per kilo is simpler than working in pounds weight.

Selling gold in the UK, mistakes and a glossary

Jewelers, pawnbrokers, bullion dealers and postal scrap buyers all buy gold. They pay per gram by carat, below the melt value, and the spread varies a lot. Expect to show identification, since dealers must follow anti-money-laundering rules.

Common mistakes

• Weighing on a kitchen scale in ounces, which are avoirdupois, not troy.
• Assuming an unhallmarked piece is fake. Items under 1 g and some antiques are legitimately unmarked.
• Confusing “rolled gold” or gold-plated items with solid gold. They have little scrap value.
• Selling sovereigns as scrap. They are worth at least their gold content plus a coin premium.

For the ounce figure in dollars, see the gold price per ounce.

Glossary

• Assay office: one of the four official testing and marking offices.
• Sponsor’s mark: the maker’s or importer’s registered initials.
• Dealer’s Notice: the official hallmark chart shops must display.
• ct: the British abbreviation for carat.

For the euro side of the Channel, see the gold price in euros.

Other currencies are on the gold price by country list.