Gold Guides and Information

Thinking of selling or recycling gold? These plain-English guides explain how gold is measured, valued and tested, and how to sell it safely by post. If you already know what you have, you can request your free recycling pack or see today's gold valuation.

Gold carats and purity explained

Carats (ct) express the purity of gold. Pure gold is 24 carat, but in practice this is too soft for everyday jewellery, so other metals are added to create harder, more durable alloys. The more gold an alloy contains, the higher its carat and the more it is worth.

These are the carats you are most likely to see in the UK:

Carat	Gold purity	Fineness mark	Typical use
24ct	99.9% pure	999	Bullion, investment
22ct	91.6% pure	916	Coins, fine jewellery
18ct	75.0% pure	750	Quality jewellery
14ct	58.3% pure	585	Jewellery (common overseas)
9ct	37.5% pure	375	Everyday UK jewellery

Because higher-carat gold contains more pure gold by weight, a heavy 9ct chain can still be worth less than a lighter 18ct one. We separate items by carat, weigh each, and pay the correct percentage of the spot price for that purity.

Understanding gold hallmarks

A UK hallmark is an official stamp guaranteeing an item's precious-metal content. A full hallmark usually includes a sponsor's (maker's) mark, a fineness number showing the purity, and an assay office mark, sometimes with a date letter. The fineness number is the most useful part for sellers: 375 means 9ct, 585 means 14ct, 750 means 18ct, 916 means 22ct and 999 means 24ct. You may also see 925 (sterling silver), 950 (platinum) and 950 (palladium).

Many genuine gold items are unmarked, worn smooth, or carry foreign marks that are hard to read. That does not reduce their value to us, because our XRF assay measures the real gold content directly. In other words, you do not need a hallmark to sell your gold for a fair price.

White, rose and yellow gold

The colour of gold comes from the metals mixed into the alloy, not from the amount of gold. Yellow gold is alloyed with metals like copper and silver; rose gold gets its pinky colour from extra copper; and white gold is made by adding a white metal such as palladium or nickel and is often finished with rhodium plating. All three are real gold and are valued on their carat. You can read more on our white and rose gold page.

How much is my gold worth?

The value of any gold item comes down to two things: how much it weighs and how pure it is. Multiply the weight by the purity to find the amount of pure gold, then apply the current gold price. For example, 10g of 18ct gold contains 7.5g of pure gold (10g x 75%).

You can estimate your return using the live per-gram prices for 9ct to 24ct on our home page, or read the full method on how we value your gold. When you are ready, our offers are free and carry no obligation, get cash for your gold paid within a minute of accepting.

How the gold price works

The headline "gold price" you see in the news is the spot price: the internationally recognised benchmark set each day by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). It is quoted in US dollars per troy ounce (about 31.1 grams), then converted into local currency and into a per-gram figure.

The spot price is for pure (24ct) gold, so the rate for your items is scaled to their carat. We pay a transparent percentage of spot by weight and purity, with better rates for larger amounts, and we show you the figure before you accept. There is nothing hidden in the calculation.

What counts as scrap gold?

"Scrap" simply means gold sold for its metal value rather than as a finished piece. Broken chains, single earrings, bent or damaged rings, snapped clasps, outdated styles, dental gold and mixed odds and ends all qualify. Condition makes no difference, because the value is in the gold content, not the appearance. Gold-plated and rolled-gold items, however, contain only a microscopic layer of gold and have no scrap value. See our sell scrap gold guide for details.

How to sell gold safely by post

Selling gold by post is safe when the right precautions are in place. Send your items with a tracked, signed-for and insured service, keep your proof of posting, and split higher values across separate insured bags so the whole parcel stays covered. Deal only with a company that assays your gold transparently and makes a no-obligation offer you can decline.

Our process is built around exactly this: free insured Royal Mail Special Delivery, tracked every step, insured to £750 per bag, with your gold returned free if you decline. See safety and security and selling gold online for the full picture, or read how it works.

Is now a good time to sell gold?

The cash value of gold has been rising for some time, and many sellers ask whether it can go higher. No one can predict the market, but when prices are strong it can be a sensible time to turn unused gold sitting in a drawer into money. Because our offers track the live spot price, you always sell at the current market rate rather than an out-of-date one.

Why recycle gold?

Not only can you make money, recycling old gold reduces the demand for gold mining, which has some serious ecological consequences. Some examples of these include:

• Water contamination: toxic waste from gold mines can pollute rivers, lakes and oceans with heavy metals, acids, cyanide and petroleum byproducts.
• Soil contamination: heavy metals from exposed waste rock and tailings can spread through erosion and contaminate the soil.
• Ecosystem destruction: mining can threaten natural areas and lead to the loss of vegetation.
• Health risks: the byproducts of acid mine drainage (AMD) can make people and animals sick for generations.
• Carbon footprint: the gold industry contributes to global emissions.
• Mercury emissions: small-scale gold mining in the global south is responsible for 38% of global mercury emissions from human activity.
• Water usage: it takes an average of 265,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of gold.

It is RecycleOldGold's mission to get unwanted or unused old gold back into the economy, and we donate a proportion of our profit to WWF UK. You can read related research from the University of Oxford's Smith School in their note, "Stop mining new gold, say Oxford researchers", and learn more on our recycle gold page.

How we test gold: XRF analysis

X-rays are a type of electromagnetic radiation. Other types in this category include radio waves, infra-red light, visible light and ultra-violet light. All electromagnetic radiation travels at the speed of light and can be represented as a waveform, and the distance between two wave peaks is called the wavelength.

Higher-frequency waves have a shorter wavelength and carry greater energy, so they are more penetrating. Where the wavelength is less than about 100nm the radiation is also ionising, which means it can change the atoms it interacts with by removing electrons. As electrons are removed, the remaining ones reposition themselves and give off energy. This phenomenon is X-ray fluorescence, and measuring the energy produced reveals which elements the atoms belonged to. That is how an XRF analyser accurately determines the composition of an object, in our case, exactly how much gold or precious metal an item contains.