Scrap gold is gold jewelry that is no longer wearable: a chain snapped in three places, a single hoop, a ring cut off at the band, a charm with no bracelet, a bent clasp. It is the simplest jewelry to sell, because a buyer is paying for one thing only, the gold. That also makes it the easiest to check: if you know the karat and the weight, you can work out what the gold is worth before anyone makes an offer.
Best Place To Sell Jewelry is an independent referral service, not a buyer, pawnshop or dealer. When you call or send the form, we pass your request to an independent buyer in New York, who makes any offer.
Have broken gold to sell? Call, or send the form with the karats and a rough weight.
Is it really scrap?
Before you sell anything as scrap, set aside pieces that may be worth more than their gold: anything signed by a maker, anything that looks antique, and anything with a stone you cannot identify. A broken signed bracelet can still be worth more to a buyer who repairs and resells it. See the guides to designer jewelry and estate jewelry if you are unsure. Diamond pieces belong with the guide on where to sell diamond jewelry.
Sort by karat
Gold is priced by its share of pure gold, and that share is the karat divided by 24. Under the FTC’s jewelry guides (16 CFR Part 23), gold alloy should carry its karat before the word gold, so look for 10K, 14K, 18K or 22K stamps.
| Karat | Pure gold |
|---|---|
| 10K | 41.7% |
| 14K | 58.3% |
| 18K | 75% |
| 22K | 91.7% |
Keep each karat in its own bag. If everything is weighed together, the whole lot may be priced at the lowest karat in it. Pieces with no stamp go in a separate bag for testing. Pieces marked as plated, such as “R.G.P.” or “Gold Overlay”, are not solid gold under the FTC guides and are worth very little as scrap.
Weigh it
Gold is priced by the troy ounce, which is 31.10348 grams, heavier than the 28.34952 gram kitchen ounce (NIST SP 811). Buyers also use the pennyweight (dwt), one twentieth of a troy ounce, or 1.555174 grams. Weigh each karat bag in grams and divide by 31.10348 to get troy ounces.
Take the steel out where you can. Some clasps on gold chains use a steel spring, and some earrings have backs of another metal. A buyer may deduct what is not gold, so it helps to know in advance.
Work out the melt value
For each karat bag: weight in troy ounces x pure gold share x the spot price of gold per troy ounce. If you have 0.5 troy ounces of 14K scrap and the spot price is X dollars, the gold is worth 0.5 x 0.583 x X dollars, which is 0.2915 x X dollars. Add the bags together for your total.
That figure is the value of the pure gold only. A buyer’s offer is usually below melt, because the buyer pays to refine the metal and needs a margin. The size of that gap is what you compare between buyers. Spot prices change through the trading day, so this site prints none: check a live price on the day.
Dental gold
Gold crowns and bridgework are scrap gold too, but their alloys vary and they may not be stamped, so ask how a buyer will establish their gold content.
Stamps that are worn or missing
Scrap gold is often the jewelry that has seen the most wear, so stamps may be faint, rubbed away or cut off when a ring was resized. That does not make a piece worthless. A buyer can test unmarked or doubtful pieces before pricing them, and should tell you what karat they found. If a buyer tests a piece below its stamp, ask what test was used. The National Stamping Act, cited in the FTC guides, allows gold with no solder to be up to three parts per thousand under its mark and gold with solder up to seven, so a small shortfall on a soldered chain is within the rules. The article on how to tell if jewelry is real gold explains the checks you can make at home first.
Where to sell scrap gold
- A specialist gold or jewelry buyer. Offers a price for the gold after weighing it; ask for the weight and karat in writing.
- A refiner. Recovers the metal; ask whether it buys from the public and what its price is based on.
- A jewelry store. May offer credit toward a new purchase instead of money. Ask whether the offer is cash or credit.
- A pawnshop. A pawn is a loan against an item, not a sale. If you want to sell, say so.
The guide to jewelry buyers explains how to check any buyer before you go.
In New York City
A business that buys gold in New York City must weigh it on a scale approved by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, reading in steps of 0.01 troy ounce or smaller, and tell you the troy weight (6 RCNY 3-81). It must check and record your ID, and record what it buys with your name, address and the date and time. It cannot buy from a minor, and must hold a DCWP Secondhand Dealer General licence posted where you can see it. More on the selling jewelry in NYC page.
Questions to ask about any scrap gold offer
- What weight did you record for each karat?
- What karat did you pay each piece at, and how did you test it?
- What is your price per gram or per pennyweight for each karat?
- Did you deduct anything, such as clasps, springs or stones?
- Can I have that in writing?
Know your karats and weights? Call, and we connect you with an independent New York buyer whose offer you can compare with your melt figure.
Questions people ask
Where can I sell broken gold jewelry?
To a buyer who pays for gold by karat and weight. Broken gold is valued by its karat and weight exactly like whole gold, so a snapped chain is worth as much as an intact chain of the same weight and karat as metal.
Is scrap gold worth selling?
If it is solid gold, yes: it has metal value whatever its condition. Work out the melt value first so you can judge the offer.
Do I need to separate karats before selling scrap gold?
It helps. Sorted by karat, each group can be priced at its own gold share. Mixed together, a lot may be priced at its lowest karat.
Is gold-plated jewelry scrap gold?
Gold-plated and rolled gold plate pieces have only a layer of gold over another metal. They are not solid gold, and their gold content is small.
Ask about a piece