Gold Value Calculator: Melt Value by Karat and Weight

Reviewed by the Gold Value Chart US Editorial Team · Updated October 28, 2026

Values on this page use gold spot at $4,048.80/oz · updated October 28, 2026

Quick answer: Choose a karat, type in a weight, and the calculator returns the melt value: the worth of the pure gold inside, priced at the live spot of $4,048.80 per troy ounce as of October 28, 2026. It is a measurement of metal, not a bid. The value of a real piece, once tested, melted and refined by a buyer, is lower, and the steps further down explain by how much.

The same numbers in a plain table

The calculator is a convenience. The table below shows the identical figures with no interaction needed, so the page still works if your browser blocks scripts. Rows are karats, columns are common weights in grams.

Four worked examples you can check by hand

Numbers feel more trustworthy once you see where they come from. Each of these multiplies a weight by a karat's share of pure gold and by today's gram price.

1. A 10 g chain stamped 585. Fourteen karat is 58.3% gold, so the chain holds $759.34 of metal. The 14K page goes further on what a buyer does with that figure.
2. A 5 g bar stamped 999. Pure gold has no deduction for alloy, so 5 grams is $650.79. The 24K gram page covers bars and the gram-sized bullion bar.
3. A bracelet weighing 10.5 g in 14K. Half grams are common on jeweler's tags, and 10.5 g comes to $797.30.
4. A pendant weighing 7.5 g in 18K. Seventy-five percent gold puts it at $732.22. The 18K gram page explains where this karat is common.

If you hold 10K or 22K pieces, the same method holds. The 10K and 22K pages give those worked figures, and the price per gram page places all five karats in one grid.

Weigh, stamp, test: the three steps before you trust a number

1. Weigh. Use a scale that reads to a tenth of a gram or better. Remove stones, pearls, enamel and anything obviously not gold. A single gemstone can weigh a surprising amount, and nobody pays gold prices for it.

2. Read the stamp. Look for a number or karat mark, usually inside a ring band or on a clasp: 417 for 10K, 585 for 14K, 750 for 18K, 916 or 917 for 22K, 999 for 24K. The gold purity chart lists the marks and where to find them. No stamp does not mean no gold, but it does mean you cannot trust the karat you have assumed.

3. Test. A stamp can be wrong, fake, or from a plated item. A dealer will use an acid test or an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzer to confirm purity, and the result decides which karat row applies. Do not enter a karat you have not confirmed and expect the result to hold up at a counter.

If your piece is old, repaired or imported, expect the confirmation step to matter most. Solder joints can be lower karat than the rest of a chain.

Melt value versus what you will be offered

The calculator's output is the ceiling for a seller. Between that figure and cash in your hand sit the buyer's costs: testing, melting, refining loss, overhead and margin. Ranges reported by the trade run from roughly 90-98% of melt for refiners, who often require a minimum lot, to 70-90% for mail-in and online buyers, 60-85% for local jewelers and buyers, and often well below that at pawn shops. These are reported ranges, never quotes.

Use a concrete case. A 12 pennyweight piece in 14K has a melt value of $1,417.08. At an 80% payout the offer would be $1,133.66. The right comparison is not whether the buyer gave you the full melt number, because they cannot, but whether the percentage is in line with what other buyers offer for the same piece. Get at least two offers in writing before you sell.

The three mistakes that skew a result

Weighing stones and clasps. A bracelet's total weight includes its clasp, its springs and any stones. If the gold is only part of the weight, the entered number is too high, and the calculator will happily overstate. Take the piece apart if you can, or ask a jeweler to weigh the gold alone.

Mixing up units. The calculator accepts grams, pennyweights and ounces, and each means something different. A pennyweight is about 1.555 g and a troy ounce is about 31.103 g. Entering "5" in the wrong unit changes the answer by a factor of more than thirty. If you are unsure of the conversions, our pennyweight page and the price per ounce page set them out.

Assuming the wrong karat. Entering 14K for a piece that is really 10K overstates its value by about 40%. This is the most expensive error of the three, because the stamp is easy to misread on a worn ring. Check against the purity chart and, if the amount matters, confirm with a test.

What this calculator cannot tell you

It cannot tell you what any buyer will pay, whether a hallmark is genuine, or whether an item is solid or plated. It does not price gem value, maker's premium or antique appeal, and the melt number can sit well below a collector's valuation of a rare piece. It is built on the same feed as our gold value chart, so any difference between its output and a dealer's quote is a difference in margin, not in data.

Frequently asked questions

Data sources: Spot price via api.gold-api.com · COMEX futures (GC=F) via Yahoo Finance. Prices are for informational purposes only and may be delayed. Figures on this page were generated 2026-10-28. Gold is quoted in US dollars per troy ounce.