Quick answer
That number is the wholesale spot price for one gram of 24-karat (999+ fine) gold. Anything less pure (18K jewelry, 14K chain, 10K class ring) is worth proportionally less per gram, and any actual buyer will pay under spot to cover melting, assaying, and margin. Use the karat ladder below to see the per-gram value at each purity, then multiply by your item’s real weight.
Why the per-gram number is what most sellers actually need
Gold trades on world markets by the troy ounce (31.1035 grams), so financial headlines quote spot in dollars per troy ounce. But the physical gold most people own at home, a chain, a ring, an inherited pendant, weighs 2 to 40 grams, not 31. Per-gram pricing is the practical unit you use when a jeweler slides a scrap chain onto a scale and offers you cash.
The math is simple: take the spot price of pure gold, divide by 31.1035, and you get the per-gram value of 24K gold. That is what $141.90 represents right now. Every other karat is a fraction of that number, because karats measure how much of your item is actually gold and how much is base alloy (copper, silver, zinc, nickel).
Gold price per gram by karat, today
Here is the live per-gram value at each standard US karat, calculated from the same $141.90 baseline shown above:
- 24K (999+ fine, pure investment gold): $141.75 per gram
- 22K (91.7% pure, common on bullion coins like the American Gold Eagle): $130.08 per gram
- 18K (75.0% pure, high-end jewelry): $106.42 per gram
- 14K (58.3% pure, most US wedding bands and chains): $82.77 per gram
- 10K (41.7% pure, class rings and low-cost fashion jewelry): $59.17 per gram
These values track the wholesale market minute by minute. They are the melt value of your metal, before any buyer’s margin. If you are trying to size up what a piece is actually worth in your hand, our free gold value calculator takes weight, karat, and current spot and returns the melt figure without the mental arithmetic.
The full karat table, per gram, pennyweight, and troy ounce
Jewelers in the United States often quote in pennyweights (abbreviated dwt), a unit that predates the metric system and equals 1.5552 grams. Refiners and bullion dealers use grams or troy ounces. The table below shows each unit at each karat so you can convert between whichever your buyer speaks:
| Karat | Gold content | Per gram | Per pennyweight | Per troy ounce |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10K | 41.7% | $59.17 | $92.02 | $1,840.41 |
| 14K | 58.3% | $82.77 | $128.72 | $2,574.36 |
| 18K | 75% | $106.42 | $165.50 | $3,310.08 |
| 22K | 91.7% | $130.08 | $202.29 | $4,045.81 |
| 24K | 99.9% | $141.75 | $220.45 | $4,409.03 |
If you receive an offer per pennyweight, multiply it by the piece’s weight in dwt. If it is per gram, multiply by the gram weight. Never accept a per-gram offer while your buyer is weighing in pennyweights, or the reverse, without doing the unit conversion first. The full seller playbook walks through the exact conversation to have when a shop hands you a low quote.
A quick worked example: a 20-gram 14K chain
Say you have a 14K yellow-gold rope chain that reads 20 grams on a jeweler’s scale. To find its melt value, multiply 20 grams by the current 14K per-gram value shown above, which is $82.77. That product is the raw metal value; do the multiplication yourself and you get your baseline.
A retail buyer will typically pay 60% to 85% of that melt value, depending on their overhead and volume. A refiner buying in bulk pays closer to 90% to 95%. If a shop offers you 40% of melt, you are being underpaid for scrap and should walk. Before accepting any figure, request one free sealed offer request on our /sell-gold/ marketplace so you have a real benchmark from up to 15 verified US buyers on the same piece.
Grams versus pennyweights versus troy ounces
Three units dominate US gold pricing, and mixing them up costs sellers money every day:
- Gram (g): the metric unit used worldwide. Best for small jewelry pieces. 1 gram is roughly the weight of a paperclip.
- Pennyweight (dwt): 1.5552 grams, or 1/20 of a troy ounce. Still the working unit in most US jewelry and scrap-buying shops.
- Troy ounce (oz t): 31.1035 grams. The unit used for bullion, spot prices, and central-bank reserves. A standard 1 oz gold coin weighs one troy ounce of pure gold.
A regular grocery-store ounce (avoirdupois) is only 28.3495 grams, so a “gold ounce” is about 10% heavier than what you would call an ounce of cheese. Never let a buyer weigh you on a food scale set to standard ounces; insist on grams or troy ounces. Our reference on the troy ounce and unit conversions covers the edge cases.
How to weigh gold at home before you sell
You do not need a jeweler’s certified balance to get a solid ballpark. A digital pocket scale reading in 0.01 g increments (the kind sold for kitchen or reloading use) is accurate enough to verify a shop’s weight within a few percent. Set it on a hard, flat surface, tare to zero, place the piece flat on the platform, and read the number.
Remove any obvious non-gold parts first (leather cords, stone settings, plastic clasps), because a buyer will subtract them anyway. Weigh each karat separately if a mixed lot has 10K, 14K, and 18K pieces mingled, because they price at different per-gram rates. Photograph the scale reading with the piece on it before you leave the house: if a buyer later claims a different weight, your photo is the tiebreaker.
What moves the per-gram number day to day
The wholesale gold price reflected in $141.90 is set continuously by global trading in London, New York, Shanghai, and Zurich. Factors that push it around on any given day include the US dollar index, interest rate expectations, physical demand from central banks and jewelry markets, and geopolitical events. Nobody can accurately predict where prices will go in the future; past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
For sellers, the practical rule is that the per-gram number moves less than 1% in most 24-hour windows. If you get a quote today and sell tomorrow, the value will almost certainly be within a few dollars per gram of what you calculated. Waiting weeks or months to “time” a scrap-jewelry sale is rarely worth the risk, because retail-side margins are 10 to 40 times larger than typical daily spot movements.
Get a real per-gram offer without leaving home
Once you know the melt value from the karat table above, the fastest way to find out what a real buyer will actually pay is to post one free request on our seller marketplace. Describe the piece (weight, karat, condition), and up to 15 verified US gold buyers submit sealed offers you review side by side. No obligation, no walking into three pawn shops, and no giving up your item to be “evaluated.” Start on /sell-gold/, or browse the full marketplace to see how sealed-offer bidding works before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
Is the price per gram of pure gold different from the spot price?
No, they describe the same wholesale value expressed in different units. Spot is quoted per troy ounce (31.1035 g); dividing that number by 31.1035 gives you the price of one gram of pure (24K) gold, which is $141.90 right now.
Why do scrap buyers pay less than the per-gram value shown above?
Because they need to cover refining, assaying, insurance, and their own profit margin, then resell the refined metal at wholesale. Typical scrap payouts range from about 60% of melt at retail shops to about 90% at direct refiners. A payout below 60% is a red flag.
How do I convert a per-pennyweight offer into a per-gram figure?
Divide the per-pennyweight offer by 1.5552. For example, a $50 per dwt quote for 14K gold works out to about $32.15 per gram. If that number is well below the 14K per-gram value in our table, the shop’s margin is aggressive and you should shop around.
Does jewelry with stones weigh in as gold?
No, honest buyers will estimate or physically remove stone weight before quoting. If a shop weighs the whole piece and quotes on the total, they are either being sloppy or building in a margin against you. Ask them to break the piece down or subtract an estimated stone weight.
Can I trust an at-home digital scale for a real quote?
Yes for a ballpark within 1 to 2%, no for the final settlement weight. Use your home scale to catch a buyer weighing you 20% light, but expect them to use a calibrated jeweler’s balance for the actual transaction.
Is 24K always the best gold to buy per gram?
For pure metal value yes, because there is no alloy diluting the gold content. But 24K is too soft for daily-wear jewelry, which is why most US rings and chains are 14K or 18K. For bullion investment, 24K coins and bars carry the lowest premium over melt. Our karat comparison walks through each use case.
How often do the per-gram prices on this page update?
Every trading day. The tokens on this page pull the current wholesale gold price and recalculate each karat automatically. The date next to the quick answer above (September 8, 2026) confirms when the numbers were last refreshed.
What if my piece is not stamped with a karat mark?
An unmarked piece could still be real gold, just missing the stamp (common on older or foreign items). A jeweler can acid-test or use an XRF analyzer to confirm karat. Do not accept a buyer treating unmarked pieces as scrap 10K by default; insist on a real test.
Sources
- US Federal Trade Commission, 16 CFR Part 23 (Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries): ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-23
- United States Mint, American Eagle Bullion Coin Program (22K weight and purity specifications): usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-eagle
- London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), Good Delivery specifications for 999.9 fine gold: lbma.org.uk/good-delivery
- US National Institute of Standards and Technology, Handbook 44 (weighing device tolerances used by state weights-and-measures inspectors): nist.gov/pml/owm/publications/nist-handbook-44
- US Federal Trade Commission, Business Guidance on Buying and Selling Gold and Silver Bullion: ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/investing-bullion-bullion-coins