Tools & Guides
Tools and Guides
Calculators and reference guides for valuing, buying and selling gold and silver in the United States.
- Gold Price CalculatorValue of any weight of gold in grams, ounces, tolas or pennyweights.
- Live Gold Price BoardFull-screen live gold, silver and coin prices for any screen or store TV.
- Scrap Gold CalculatorWhat your gold jewelry is worth and what buyers pay.
- Where to Buy GoldDealers, coin shops, banks and ETFs compared, with typical premiums.
- Where to Sell GoldWho pays the most for gold and what payout to expect.
- Gold Price in U.S. CitiesGold price and bullion sales tax in 19 major U.S. cities.
- Gold and Silver PricesGold and silver side by side, with the gold/silver ratio.
- Gold & Silver Sales Tax by StateWhich states tax gold and silver bullion, and which exempt it.
- Gold GlossaryPlain-English definitions of gold, bullion and jewelry terms.
Which tool answers which question
Use the gold price calculator to value a known weight and purity, the scrap gold calculator to estimate what a buyer will pay for jewelry, and the junk silver calculator for pre-1965 U.S. coins. The guides cover buying, selling and taxes.
| Your question | Where to go |
|---|---|
| What is 5 grams of 18K gold worth? | Gold price calculator |
| What will a buyer pay for my old 14K ring? | Scrap gold calculator |
| What are my pre-1965 dimes and quarters worth? | Junk silver calculator |
| How do gold and silver compare right now? | Gold and silver prices, with the gold/silver ratio |
| Will I pay sales tax on bullion? | Sales tax by state |
| Where should I buy or sell? | The buying and selling guides |
The calculators
The gold price calculator values any weight in grams, troy ounces, pennyweights or tolas at any karat, using the live price.
The scrap gold calculator goes a step further and applies the payout percentages buyers commonly offer, so you can see a realistic range before you get a quote.
The junk silver calculator handles 90% silver U.S. coins by face value, which is how dealers trade them.
The comparison page
The gold and silver prices page shows the two metals together, with the ratio of their prices.
Getting accurate numbers out of any calculator
A calculator is only as good as its inputs. Three of them cause nearly all errors: weight, purity and the price you apply.
- Weigh in grams on a scale that reads to at least 0.1 g. If you only have ounces, make sure they are troy ounces.
- Read the purity stamp with a magnifier: karat marks such as 14K or millesimal marks such as 585.
- Value at melt first, using the live price per gram of pure gold.
- Apply a payout percentage only if you want a selling estimate, not a value.
- For coins, start from the coin’s known gold content instead of weighing it, since coin alloys include copper or silver.
Units that trip people up
| Unit | Grams |
|---|---|
| Troy ounce | 31.1035 |
| Avoirdupois (kitchen) ounce | 28.3495 |
| Pennyweight (dwt) | 1.5552 |
| Tola | 11.6638 |
| Grain | 0.0648 |
Purity by karat
Karat is parts of gold out of 24. The common U.S. karats contain these shares of gold: 10K is 41.7%, 14K is 58.5% by its 585 stamp, 18K is 75%, 22K is 91.7% and 24K is 99.9% or higher.
A note on 14K
Fourteen twenty-fourths is 58.33%, but most 14K jewelry is stamped 585 and made to 58.5%. Using 58.5% matches what refiners pay on and what most buyers use.
Common mistakes when valuing gold and silver
Most wrong estimates come from a short list of errors.
- Weighing on a kitchen scale set to ounces, which reads in the lighter avoirdupois ounce and makes the weight look almost 10% higher than it is in troy ounces.
- Including stones, clasps or pendants in the weight of a piece.
- Applying the spot price to scrap and expecting to receive it; buyers pay a percentage of melt.
- Valuing collectible coins only at melt, or valuing common bullion coins as rarities.
- Treating gold-filled or plated items as solid gold.
- For junk silver, weighing worn coins instead of using face value, which is how dealers price them.
A worked junk silver example
Pre-1965 U.S. dimes, quarters and half dollars are 90% silver. Dealers treat $1 in face value as containing about 0.715 troy ounces of silver, allowing for wear. At an example silver price of $30 per ounce, $10 in face value contains about 7.15 ounces, worth about $214.50 at melt. Dealer offers are then quoted relative to that figure.
Starting from the right price
Every tool on this site starts from the gold price today, updated through the trading day. When the market is closed, the calculators use the last traded price.
Guides for buying, selling and bullion taxes
The calculators tell you what gold is worth. The guides cover what happens when money changes hands: premiums when you buy, payouts when you sell, and the taxes that apply at each end.
Buying
The where to buy gold guide compares coins, bars, fractional pieces and ETFs by premium and resale, with a checklist for comparing quotes on the same footing.
Selling
The where to sell gold guide shows how buyers calculate payouts as a percentage of melt value, with a worked example and the questions to ask before accepting an offer.
Taxes
The sales tax by state page lists which states tax bullion, which exempt it and which exempt only larger purchases. It also covers federal income tax on gains, which applies when you sell.
Using the tools together
A typical sequence for someone clearing out old jewelry runs like this: weigh and sort by karat, value each group in the gold price calculator, estimate a payout range with the scrap calculator, then take the weighed lots to two or three buyers and compare their offers as a percentage of melt. For someone buying, the order reverses: check the price, compare premiums per ounce across products, then add your state’s sales tax if any applies.
The site does not buy or sell metal, so none of the tools are tied to an offer. They run on the same live price as the rest of the site, and their results change as the market moves, so recheck a result on the day you plan to buy or sell.