WHAT IS MY GOLD WORTH?

What is my gold bracelet worth? First of all, all that glitters is not gold. And the bracelet might not be gold even if it is marked 10K,14K or 18K. Remember, a little old jeweler like me took a stamp and a hammer and placed that 10K, 14K, or 18K mark on the piece. Not all jewelers are as scrupulous as I have been for the last 55 years. Oh, what the hell, even I have had my moments. However I have never knowingly stamped a quality marked in a piece of jewelry. You notice I said "knowingly".

I did, however, have a slight mishap a number of years ago. I melted up a mixture of pure gold and alloy into 14 Karat fabricating stock. I went by a strict formula. I even added a bit more pure gold, just to be safe. I was going to make a few pairs of dangle earrings. I made the stock, cut it into the lengths I wanted and ran them through the rolling mill which is like the old ringer washers only the rollers are cold steel. The pieces had to be put through the mill in a way that the drops became opposites, mirrored, so that they matched when worn. I made about 7 or 8 pair of earrings and it took me all day. At the end of the day I have my friend and sale person display them prominently in the showcase. They came out great and I was proud as a peacock! That is, until Janet called to me a few days later, in a tizzy, stating all of the earrings were tarnishing!

Ooooops! I couldn't believe it! But there they were, tarnished to beat hell. Well, needless to say, that was a day down the drain. Off to the smelter they went. I never did test them but they had to be very low karat. I probably got interrupted in the middle of the melt and when I went back I added the alloy again and dropped the karat drastically! I never did remake the earrings because they just weren't profitable, knowing how much labor had to be put into making them. And, heaven knows the first batch wasn't profitable!!!

Back to the original question... What is my gold bracelet worth? First of all you have to know what the bracelet weighs. And you have to know if it is a karat gold item or a gold plated one. Most jewelers, even if they do not buy gold, will tell you the quality and weigh it for you. You notice I said "most jewelers". Some have their noses so high in the air that they nearly drown when it rains! Let's say you go to you small town jeweler, or the family jeweler, and they accommodate you. Your bracelet is gold. It is 14 Karat gold. And, it weighs 10 pennyweight or if weighed by grams ... 15 grams.

What in the name of Sam Hill is a pennyweight, you wonder. Well, gold is weighed using one of two ways. It is either weighed by pennyweight or by grams. Using pennyweight makes you think you are getting more for the bracelet because if you are quoted $10.00 per gram it would be $15.00 per pennyweight. So, you would be foolish to sell your bracelet for $10.00 per gram if you can get $15.00 per pennyweight. Right? WRONG!!! You see it all comes down to ounces, troy ounces. There are 20 pennyweight to one troy ounce and 31.1 grams per troy ounce. One pennyweight is 0.05 ounces and 1 gram is 0.03215 ounces.

Here is how you determine what the value of the gold in your bracelet. If pure gold is $900.00 per ounce, you would get $26.325 per penny weight. If pure gold is $900.00 per ounce you would get $16.929 per gram. Your jeweler told you the bracelet weighed 10 pennyweight. 10 pennyweight x $26.325 = $263.25. He, or she, also weighed the piece using grams. It weighed 15 grams. 15 grams x $17.55 = $263.25. No difference!

Here is a formula for the value of pure gold in a piece of karat gold jewelry that you know is gold and you have had the weight verified.

Find the price of pure gold from the newspaper, TV, or internet.

If your item, or items are 10 Karat use the following formula....
1) Multiply the price of pure gold times .410. Divide that by 20. Multiply that by the weight of your item, or items, in pennyweight. The answer is the value of the pure gold in your jewelry.
2) Multiply the price of pure gold times .410. Divide that by 31.1. Multiply that by the weight of your item, or items, in grams. The answer is the value of the pure gold in your jewelry.

If your item, or items are 14 Karat use the following formula....
1) Multiply the price of pure gold times .585. Divide that by 20. Multiply that by the weight of your item, or items, in pennyweight. The answer is the value of the pure gold in your jewelry.
2) Multiply the price of pure gold times .585. Divide that by 31.1. Multiply that by the weight of your item, or items, in grams. The answer is the value of the pure gold in your jewelry.

If your item, or items are 18 Karat use the following formula....
1) Multiply the price of pure gold times .750. Divide that by 20. Multiply that by the weight of your item, or items, in pennyweight. The answer is the value of the pure gold in your jewelry.
2) Multiply the price of pure gold times .750. Divide that by 31.1. Multiply that by the weight of your item, or items, in grams. The answer is the value of the pure gold in your jewelry.

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Let's do one in actual numbers. It might be easier to follow. We will do the 14 Karat one. Let's say pure gold is $900.00 per troy ounce and we have had it weighed and it is 23 grams. So we should use this formula ... 2) Multiply the price of pure gold times .585. Divide that by 31.1. Multiply that by the weight of your item, or items, in grams. The answer is the value of the pure gold in your jewelry. The price of pure gold is $900.00. We multiply that times .585 to reduce it to the value of 14 karat gold. $900.00 x .585 = $526.50. That is the value of 14 karat gold. Then we divide that by 31.1 which gives us the value of 14 karat gold per gram. $526.50 divided by 31.1 = $16.929 per gram. We multiply that by the amount of grams we have which is 23 grams. 23 grams times $16.929 = $389.37.

Sound complicated? It won't be it you do it a few time making up your own numbers.

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But I went to White Mountain Traders and that old grump offered me much less than what I came up with using your formula. ........ Old grump, indeed! That upsets me. I'm not that old!
But on a more serious note ... I will try to save face. I have found the best way to give an offer, whether it be for gold jewelry, coins, stamps, postcards, or most any of the multitude of other things I offer to buy, is to figure out what I can get for the item, or items. And I tell the customer the price. Then I explain to them I have to make at least 30% on a transaction in order to stay in business, pay the rent, taxes, phone, lights, etc., and to end up with a bit for myself. People are usually quite understanding. Especially people who have left things at consignment shops that charge 30 to 50%! So, if I can sell a coin for $100.00, in a reasonably short time period, I will offer around $70.00. If I feel the item is going to take longer to sell I deduct another 10%.

Another thing you have to consider is the formula determines the top value of the gold. We all know we cannot get the top price for anything. If you send you items to a smelter they will only deduct about 3 to 5%, which is not bad. But, they usually charge a smelting fee on small lots, of $100.00 to $150.00. If your jewelry is only worth $200.00 to $300.00, it isn't worth it. Plus ... do you know if who you are sending your jewelry to is credible. And, you have to pay shipping and insurance, etc. Like those who advertise on TV! So it is obvious you must sell to a trader that handles enough to bypass the smelting fees and this takes a lot of capital!

I hope you can make some sense to this. If you can it should help you feel more confident when you sell your items. One thing to remember is this. Once you sell gold items the risk is over. If the price of gold drops the day after you sell ... it's not your problem! If, on the other hand, gold doubles in price the next day ... cry to someone else, I'm not a babysitter! Plus you called me an old grump!

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