Guides
Gold and silver guides
Clear, practical explanations for people buying, selling or valuing precious metals. Every guide links straight to the live prices and calculators it refers to.
How to sell gold for the best price
To sell gold for a fair price, sort it by karat, weigh each group in grams, calculate the melt value from today's spot price, and then get at least three written offers. A good buyer pays 80–95% of melt value for jewelry and 95–99% of spot for recognised bullion coins and bars.
Read guide →8 min readGold karat and purity explained
A karat is a share of 24: 24k gold is pure, 18k is 18/24 = 75% gold and 14k is 14/24 = 58.3% gold (stamped 585). The price of a gram of karat gold is simply the pure gold price per gram multiplied by that percentage.
Read guide →8 min readHow to read gold hallmarks and spot fakes
A gold hallmark is a small stamp that states the purity of the metal, usually as a three-digit number such as 585 (14k) or 750 (18k). Marks like GP, GF, HGE or RGP mean the item is only plated or filled and has little gold value.
Read guide →9 min readWhy the gold price changes every day
The gold price changes because it is traded continuously on global markets, and buyers and sellers react to interest rates, the US dollar, inflation, central bank demand and risk events. Your local price also moves with the exchange rate between your currency and the dollar.
Read guide →9 min readGold vs silver: which should you buy?
Gold is the steadier store of value with lower dealer premiums and easier storage; silver is cheaper per ounce, more volatile and more tied to industrial demand. Many buyers hold mostly gold with a smaller silver position, and use the gold/silver ratio to decide which looks relatively cheap.
Read guide →8 min readHow pawnshops price gold
Pawnshops start from the melt value of your gold (weight × purity × today's price), then pay a percentage of it: typically 50–80% to buy outright and less for a loan. Knowing the melt value before you go is the single best way to get a fairer offer.
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