You need to know more than the regular price of gold if you want to buy or sell gold in London. It would be helpful if you got acquainted with gold weights and karats. This will allow you to measure the markup of the jeweller on the price of any gold product. Thus we will help you to find the correct price to sell gold.
Gold Weight Measurements
Gold and metals used for alloying are measured by jewellers in troy ounces. The units of weight referenced, however, can differ depending on the circumstances. Sadly, this is often done primarily to avoid quick and precise estimates from being made by the average user.
1 troy pound = 12 troy ounces
1 troy ounce = 20 pennyweights (dwt)
1 pennyweight (dwt) = 24 grains (gr)
15.43 grains (gr) = 1 gram (gm)
31.10 grams (gm) = 1 troy ounce
Take good account of these equations. Remember the pennyweight (dwt), grain (gr), and gram (gm) conversions, in particular. When you sell gold in London, you will find yourself dealing with these three weight references often.
Gold Karat Values
A gold item’s karat value (K) determines the purity of its gold. That is, it calculates the ratio of pure gold and metal alloys. Gold of 24K is 100% pure. 12K gold has 12 gold parts and 12 alloy metal parts, or 50% purity. To calculate the purity percentage, divide any K value by 24.
Calculating the Markup
When retailers claim they are not selling based on weight, they are pricing based on what the market will bear. You can measure the value and sell gold yourself, though, if you know the gold piece’s weight and karat. You will even get an excellent idea of the jeweller’s markup.
Below, you have three examples of the pennyweight, grain, and gram gold products sold. In these cases, let’s measure the markup, using £300/troy ounce as the regular gold price.
Pennyweights
A dealer would like to sell a product of 14K gold weighing 3 dwt for £65.
- Divide the daily gold price/troy ounce, £300, by 20 to get the pennyweight price (1 troy ounce equals 20 dwt).
- Therefore, £300/20 = £15/dwt.
- Multiply 3 dwt, the product’s weight, by £15 to get the item’s pure gold price.
- Consequently, 3 x £15 = £45. (If the item was 24K or 100% gold, this would be the price).
- Multiply £45, the pure gold price, by 0.6 to obtain the 14K gold price for the product.
- Therefore, £45 x 0.6 = £27.
Grains
A dealer would like to sell a product of 14K gold weighing 3 gr for £4.
- Divide £300 by 480, to get the grain price. (1 ounce troy is equivalent to 480 gr).
- £300/480 = roughly £0.625/gr.
- Multiply 3 gr times £0.625 to get the pure gold price for the product.
- Consequently, 3 x £0.625 = £1.875.
- Multiply £1.875 by 0.6 to obtain the 14K gold price for the product.
- Therefore, £1.875 x 0.6 = £1.125 roughly.
Grams
A dealer would like to sell a product of 14K gold weighing 3 gm for £11.
- Divide £300 by 31 to get the gram price. (1 ounce troy is equivalent to 31 gm).
- Thus, £300/31 = £9.7 per gm roughly.
- Multiply 3 gm times £9.7 to get the pure gold price for the product.
- Consequently, 3 x £9.7 = £29.1.
- Multiply £29.1 by 0.6 to get the 14K gold price for the product.
- Therefore, £29.1 x 0.6 = £17.46.
This final result shows the value of the item’s real gold content. You can now calculate the jeweller’s markup for the item and make your purchase according to that.
