# Value of Gold

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-gold/422258>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 10, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-gold/422258 "2007-10-10T19:57:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Stink\_Stank\_Stunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Stink\_Stank\_Stunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stink_Stank_Stunk)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-gold/422258/1 "2007-10-10T19:57:32Z")

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Gold is worth about 740 an ounce right now. What does that mean? Is that for pure gold? If so, how much is 14k gold worth per ounce? how can i figure that out?

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**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-gold/422258/2 "2007-10-10T20:30:36Z")

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[QUOTE=Stink Stank Stunk]  
Gold is worth about 740 an ounce right now. What does that mean? Is that for pure gold? If so, how much is 14k gold worth per ounce? how can i figure that out?  
[/QUOTE]

Essentially,yes, it is for pure gold (24 carat, or .999 fine, probably).

Fourteen carat is .585 fine.

For a rough approximation, 740 \* 585 / 999.

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-gold/422258/3 "2007-10-10T20:48:02Z")

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[QUOTE=Random]  
Essentially,yes, it is for pure gold (24 carat, or .999 fine, probably).

Fourteen carat is .585 fine.

For a rough approximation, 740 \* 585 / 999.  
[/QUOTE]

Which will be high. Scrap gold prices will be below the price for the weight of the gold content to reflect reclamation costs, and the fact that the scrap gold dealer wants to make a profit.

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**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-gold/422258/4 "2007-10-10T20:51:42Z")

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I think gold is measured in troy ounces. 1 troy oz = 1.09714286 ounces

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/value-of-gold/422258/5 "2007-10-10T22:51:27Z")

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Yep, $740/troy ounce on today’s close in NY.

That means 14K has a full melt value of $433/troy ounce, for things like old wedding bands, broken chains, bracelets, mismatched earrings.

We buy about $100-150K US every month from the public, dealers who “scrap out” to us, etc. We pay on a sliding scale–what quantity you have, whether it’s all marked. We pay anyone who walks in the door $305/troy ounce. If you’re a dealer with 5 ounces or more, we pay anywhere from $360/ounce to $390/ounce.

We don’t get the full “$433”/ounce when the refiner melts it and pays us. We get something in the 98% area.

Plus, gold can change on us while we’re accumulating.

For our area, NOrthern Ohio, we’re among the 2-3 best buyers.