UK Hallmarks Explained
Read the marks inside your ring to find its carat before you weigh it
Read guide 7 min
Gold price UK
What is gold worth today?
Pure gold, per gram
£101.72
Per troy ounce
£3,163.70
The live UK spot price for every carat, and what a fair buyer should pay for your gold. Know the number before anyone puts your jewellery on the scales.
PK
Parth KananiOctober 2026 · 6 min read
Price updated 12 Oct 2026, 08:15 BST · refreshes every 10 minutes
In short: pure gold is worth £101.72 a gram today. 18ct is worth £76.29 a gram and 9ct is worth £38.14. A fair buyer pays 80–95% of the gold value for scrap jewellery. Under 70%, walk to the next shop.
Gold price per gram
Today's price for every carat
The gold value is what the gold in your piece is worth at today's price. The fair offer is what a reputable buyer should pay you for it as scrap.
| Carat | Gold value per gram | Per 10g | Fair offer per gram |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24ct (999)Bullion bars and coins. Too soft for rings | £101.61 | £1,016.14 | £81.29–£96.53 |
| 22ct (916)Common in South Asian and Middle Eastern jewellery | £93.17 | £931.71 | £74.54–£88.51 |
| 18ct (750)The usual standard for UK engagement rings | £76.29 | £762.86 | £61.03–£72.47 |
| 14ct (585)More common in US and European jewellery | £59.50 | £595.03 | £47.60–£56.53 |
| 9ct (375)The most common UK standard for everyday jewellery | £38.14 | £381.43 | £30.51–£36.24 |
Spot price via gold-api.com, converted to GBP. Updated 12 Oct 2026, 08:15 BST. Buyers set their own rates and may update them less often.
Gold value calculator
What's your gold worth?
Weigh it, check the carat, and see the gold value and a fair offer. If you've already been quoted, enter it to see how it compares.
grams
A kitchen scale that reads to 0.1g is close enough.
£
Gold value today
£190.72
5g × 37.5% pure × £101.72/g
A fair offer
£153–£181
80–95% of the gold value
This is the value of the gold only. Buyers rarely pay anything for small diamonds or gemstones set in scrap jewellery, and they’ll deduct the weight of any stones.
Silver and platinum
The other jewellery metals
Silver
- Pure, per gram
- £1.48
- Sterling silver (925), per gram
- £1.37
- Per troy ounce
- £46.16
Silver is worth far less per gram, so buyers often pay a lower share of its value. A sterling ring is rarely worth selling for scrap.
Platinum
- Pure, per gram
- £41.47
- Platinum 950 (950), per gram
- £39.39
- Per troy ounce
- £1,289.81
Platinum rings are usually 950. Fewer buyers take platinum than gold, so get more than one quote.
How the price works
Three numbers, one sum
The spot price is what pure gold trades for right now, set by the global market and quoted in US dollars per troy ounce. We convert it to pounds and to grams. One troy ounce is 31.10g, not the 28.35g ounce on your kitchen scale.
The purity is the number in your hallmark, in parts per 1,000. 750 means 75% gold, so 18ct is worth 75% of the pure price. Not sure what yours says? Use our hallmark decoder.
The weight is in grams, minus any stones. Weight × purity × spot price per gram gives you the gold value. Everything a buyer offers should be measured against that number.
Knowing what you're paying for
How much of your ring's price is gold?
Take a plain 18ct gold wedding band weighing 4g. At today's price, the gold in it is worth about £305. In Hatton Garden, a plain 18ct band typically costs £300 to £700.
The difference isn't a rip-off. It pays for the alloy, the making, the hallmarking, the finishing, VAT and the jeweller's margin. But it explains two things worth knowing: why a ring sells for much less than you paid for it, and why a heavier band in the same style costs more. When the gold price moves, ring prices follow.
Choosing between metals? See what each one costs and how it wears in our guide to ring metals.
Selling gold in Hatton Garden
Before you hand anything over
- Weigh it and check the carat at home. Sort pieces by hallmark (9ct, 18ct and so on). Mixed bags get priced at the lowest carat.
- Ask for the price per gram first. A buyer quoting a single lump sum is harder to compare. Per gram, by carat, is how the trade prices gold.
- Watch it being weighed. The scale should face you and read in grams to at least one decimal place.
- Get three quotes. Hatton Garden has many gold buyers within a short walk, which makes comparing easy. Take the best offer back to the others and see who matches it.
- Don't scrap a good diamond. If a ring has a stone of 0.5ct or more, have it valued first. Read how to sell a diamond ring before you sell it for its gold.
- Bring photo ID. Most reputable buyers will ask to see it before they pay, and you should be wary of one that doesn't.
Read next
The gold price is one number. Here's what else decides what your jewellery is worth.
Common Questions
How much is 9ct gold worth per gram in the UK?+
9ct gold is 37.5% pure, so today it's worth about £38.14 per gram in gold content. A buyer will usually pay 80–95% of that for scrap 9ct jewellery.
How much is 18ct gold worth per gram?+
18ct gold is 75% pure, so today it's worth about £76.29 per gram in gold content. Most UK engagement rings and wedding bands are 18ct.
What is 10 grams of 22 carat gold worth today?+
About £931.71 in gold content. 22ct gold is 91.6% pure, so multiply 10g by 0.916 and by today's price for pure gold per gram.
How much is 1 gram of scrap gold worth in the UK?+
It depends on the carat. Work out the gold content first: the pure gold price per gram multiplied by the purity (0.375 for 9ct, 0.75 for 18ct). A fair scrap buyer pays 80–95% of that. Anything under 70% is a reason to try another buyer.
Why is the gold price quoted per ounce?+
Gold is traded worldwide in troy ounces. One troy ounce is 31.10g, heavier than a normal (avoirdupois) ounce of 28.35g. To get the price per gram, divide the ounce price by 31.10.
Why will a buyer pay less than the gold price?+
Scrap jewellery has to be tested, melted and refined back to pure gold before it can be sold on, and the buyer takes a margin for that. Buyers who publish their rates typically pay 80–95% of the gold value.
Do I get anything for the diamonds in my gold ring?+
Usually not much. Scrap gold buyers price the metal and often pay little or nothing for small diamonds. If the stone is 0.5ct or bigger, or it has a certificate, have it valued separately before you sell the ring for scrap.
Is there VAT on gold in the UK?+
Investment gold (bars and coins of a set purity) is exempt from VAT in the UK. Gold jewellery is not: VAT is included in the retail price, which is one reason a new piece costs far more than its gold content.