Got old jewelry, junk silver coins, or broken gold chains sitting in a drawer? This guide breaks down how scrap gold and silver prices work today, walks through the math behind melt value, and shows you exactly how to get the best return when it’s time to sell.

Today’s Scrap Gold and Silver Prices at a Glance

Whether you’re holding a handful of mismatched earrings or a bag of pre-1965 silver coins, knowing the current market is the first step. All examples below are grounded in real market data as of September 2, 2026, and are meant to give you a reliable starting point for estimating what your scrap is worth in USD. Live precious metal spot market prices provide baseline values for scrap gold and silver payouts. The current market spot price for gold is approximately between $4,300 and $4,450 per troy ounce, while the current market spot price for silver is approximately between $62 and $65 per troy ounce. These current market spot prices fluctuate minute by minute, so the numbers below are snapshots-not locked-in offers.

Sample Melt Values per Gram (Sep 2, 2026)

Using a gold spot of approximately $4,320 per oz (~$138.84 per gram) and a silver spot of approximately $63.93 per oz (~$2.06 per gram):

Note: These are sample melt-value estimates based on spot prices, not binding purchase offers from Agate Precious Metals. Actual offers will reflect refining costs, lot size, and market movement.

24K gold is approximately 99.9% pure, making it the benchmark against which all other karats are measured. Gold prices fluctuate based on market conditions, which means the figures above can shift substantially even within a single trading day. Gold prices per gram can vary significantly depending on when you check-during quieter periods or different market cycles, prices may land considerably lower or higher than what you see today.

What Counts as “Scrap”?

When we talk about scrap gold and silver, we mean items valued primarily for their precious metal content rather than their appearance, brand, or condition. Scrap gold includes jewelry, watches, and dental gold. Common categories include:

• Broken or outdated gold jewelry – single earrings, damaged chains, outdated rings, tangled bracelets.
• Sterling silver flatware and tableware – forks, spoons, serving pieces, mismatched sets.
• Junk silver coins – old US and Canadian silver coins sold for metal content rather than numismatic value. A pre-1965 90% silver coin, for instance, is priced primarily by its actual silver weight.
• Small bullion and fractional precious metals – bars, rounds, or coins being liquidated for melt value.

How Agate Precious Metals Approaches Scrap

At Agate Precious Metals, we use up-to-date live spot prices for gold and silver to guide every scrap valuation. We also separate melt value from any added collectible or numismatic premium when applicable-because sometimes a piece is worth more as a collector item than as raw metal. This pricing guidance is useful whether you are:

• A casual seller cleaning out old jewelry.
• A stacker deciding whether to sell junk silver at today’s silver prices.
• A collector evaluating whether a coin is worth more as bullion or as a graded collectible.

How Scrap Gold and Silver Prices Are Calculated

Scrap gold and silver prices today are derived from live spot prices for precious metals and then adjusted for three core variables: purity, weight, and buyer or refiner fees. Understanding each step gives you a real edge when evaluating offers.

What Are Spot Prices?

The spot price is the live benchmark price for pure gold or silver, quoted per troy ounce on global metals markets. Real-time market spot prices include gold, silver, and platinum, and they move around the clock based on trading activity, interest rates, currency fluctuations, and investor demand. Platforms like Kitco and NGC’s melt value tracker display these rates continuously. Live gold prices are available in 40 currencies, live silver prices are updated 24 hours a day, and live platinum prices are provided in ounces and grams. Even palladium and rhodium spot prices are tracked for industrial and specialty applications. Live precious metal prices help track market trends and give sellers a reliable reference point before accepting any offer. Scrap metal prices for gold and silver are based on global spot prices. Every offer you receive for scrap is some percentage of the underlying spot price for the precious metal content in your items.

The Scrap Valuation Formula

The core math is straightforward. Scrap payouts depend heavily on metal purity and weight. Here is the formula applied step by step: Gold example – 20 g of 14K chain:

1. Convert karat to purity. The gold ratio for 14K gold is approximately 58.3% (14 ÷ 24 = 0.583).
2. Find pure gold weight. 20 g × 0.583 = 11.66 g of pure gold.
3. Convert spot to per-gram price. $4,320 per troy ounce ÷ 31.1035 grams per ounce ≈ $138.84 per gram.
4. Calculate melt value. 11.66 g × $138.84 ≈ $1,619.
5. Apply buyer deductions. An actual buy offer will be lower to reflect refining, handling, and market risk. Typical payouts for scrap gold jewelry range from 60% to 90% of melt value, depending on lot size, purity, and the buyer.

Silver example – 100 g of sterling silver (.925) scrap:

1. Determine pure silver content. 100 g × 0.925 = 92.5 g of pure silver.
2. Convert spot. $63.93 per oz ÷ 31.1035 ≈ $2.055 per gram.
3. Calculate melt value. 92.5 g × $2.055 ≈ $190.13.
4. Apply deductions. The current silver price is approximately $1.17 per gram at certain market levels; at today’s elevated spot, the per-gram return is higher, but sellers should still expect offers below full melt to account for processing.

Scrap calculators estimate precious metal content and value by automating steps like these-you enter weight, purity, and current spot, and the calculator returns an approximate melt figure. Scrap value calculations use current market prices for accuracy, so always make sure the calculator you’re using pulls a live feed.

How Purity and Hallmarks Drive Price

Purity affects the price per gram for gold and silver scrap. Scrap buyers consider the item’s karat for gold and sterling or coin grade for silver. Here’s what the common marks mean: Gold karats:

Silver fineness:

Unstamped or plated items should be treated cautiously. Gold-plated, vermeil, and gold-filled pieces may contain negligible precious metal content-and a basic hallmark or purity understanding can save you from overestimating their value.

Real-World Deductions and Premiums

Buyers typically pay below spot prices due to refining costs and profit margins. Refiners and dealers account for overhead and profit when determining payouts for scrap metals. Here’s how those deductions break down in practice:

• Small, mixed scrap lots (broken jewelry, unmatched pieces, no hallmarks): buyers often pay 60–80% of theoretical melt.
• Large, clean, well-sorted lots from jewelers or dealers: payouts can reach 90–95% of melt.
• Junk silver coins in bulk: premiums are thin, with buy prices often within 1–5% of melt value. Peer Metals’ junk silver charts show how closely these track spot.

Some items carry value well above their melt. Older US silver coins with rare dates, limited-mintage bullion, or graded coins from major mints may have numismatic premiums relative to generic scrap. At Agate Precious Metals, we evaluate both the precious metal content and the collectible potential instead of treating every piece as generic scrap.

The current gold price is approximately $43.60 per gram at certain karat-adjusted or lower-spot scenarios. Always confirm which spot price and purity a buyer is using when they quote you-the difference between a raw-spot gram price and a karat-adjusted gram price is enormous.

Weight Units: Troy Ounces vs. Grams

One troy ounce equals 31.1035 grams. Live gold prices and silver prices are quoted per troy oz, while most jewelry scales read in grams. This conversion is critical:

• Price per gram = Spot price per troy oz ÷ 31.1035
• For small items (single earrings, thin chains), use a digital scale accurate to at least 0.1 g-ideally 0.01 g.

Simple Tools for Home Pre-Valuation

Before contacting a buyer, you can rough out your numbers at home with a few basic tools:

• Digital scale (precision to 0.1 g minimum).
• Acid test kit or electronic gold/silver tester to confirm purity when hallmarks are worn or missing.
• Magnet – gold and silver are not magnetic; strong attraction signals base metal.
• A basic scrap calculator to plug in weight, purity, and spot price.

These are for rough estimates only. Final testing and payment should always come from a reputable, transparent buyer.

Getting the Best Price for Your Scrap with Agate Precious Metals

Now that you understand how today’s scrap prices are set, the next step is choosing where and how to sell. This section walks through practical preparation and explains how Agate Precious Metals can help you get a fair, transparent return.

Prepare Your Scrap to Maximize Offers

A little organization goes a long way. Buyers move faster-and often pay more-when they receive well-sorted, clearly documented lots.

1. Sort by metal type first. Separate gold, silver, and base metal into distinct groups.
2. Sub-sort by purity. Group 10K with 10K, 14K with 14K, sterling with sterling. This prevents a buyer from averaging everything down to the lowest karat.
3. Separate bullion from jewelry scrap. Gold coins, silver bars, and fractional rounds are different products than a tangled necklace. Keep them apart.
4. Remove non-metal elements where safe and economical-stones, watch movements, obviously base-metal clasps.
5. Create a simple inventory. List each group with estimated weight in grams and marked purity. This gives you a negotiating baseline and helps any buyer provide a faster, more accurate quote.

Where to Sell Scrap Precious Metals

You have two broad categories of selling locations to explore: Local options:

• Jewelers, pawn shops, coin shops, dental labs (for dental gold), and smaller refiners.
• Pros: Immediate payment, face-to-face interaction.
• Cons: Often lower offers, especially for small lots. Limited competition means less price pressure in your favor.

Online and wholesale options:

• Reputable bullion and coin dealers, modern ecommerce businesses like Agate Precious Metals, and online refiner services.
• Pros: Potentially higher payouts, especially for larger or well-sorted lots. Broader market reach.
• Cons: Requires shipping and a bit more process.

The best approach is to get quotes from multiple sources. A pawn shop might offer 65% of melt while a specialized buyer offers 85–90%. That gap on a $1,600 gold chain is hundreds of dollars.

Why Sell Through Agate Precious Metals

Agate Precious Metals is a modern, collector-focused precious metals company built for exactly this kind of transaction. We work with:

• Gold and silver investors and stackers selling older bullion or fractional pieces.
• Coin collectors liquidating duplicates or lower-grade coins.
• Scrap sellers looking for transparent pricing grounded in current spot prices.

Our focus is on:

• Using live spot prices for gold and silver as the starting point for every offer.
• Clearly distinguishing bullion melt value from any collectible or numismatic value.
• Providing straightforward explanations of how we calculate scrap offers and what fees or discounts apply.

How Our Quote Process Works

Getting an offer from Agate Precious Metals is designed to be simple and transparent:

1. Select your metal type – gold, silver, or other precious metals.
2. Enter approximate weight and purity – use the inventory list you prepared.
3. Upload photos of your jewelry, coins, bars, or rounds.
4. Receive a quote based on live spot prices. Because the gold price and silver prices change throughout the day, quotes are time-sensitive and locked to spot at the time of transaction.

Items We’re Interested In

Gold:

• Broken chains, single earrings, outdated rings
• Dental gold (properly cleaned)
• Gold coins, bars, and fractional gold pieces

Silver:

• Sterling flatware sets and serving pieces
• Damaged silver jewelry
• US and Canadian junk silver coins (pre-1965 dimes, quarters, halves)
• Silver bars and rounds

Specialty and collectible items:

• Limited-mintage silver rounds and exclusive series
• Graded coins from major mints
• Older bullion runs with collector demand
• Exclusive copper collectibles that may carry value beyond melt

Shop Gold and Silver Bullion

Looking to turn proceeds from scrap into investment-grade precious metals? Compare recognizable sovereign coins, fractional gold, bars, and rounds from Agate Precious Metals.

Gold Coin

1 oz Gold Eagle – BU

A highly recognizable year-varies American Gold Eagle bullion coin.

View Current Price & Availability →

Gold Coin

1 oz Gold Maple Leaf

A year-varies Canadian sovereign coin struck in .9999 fine gold.

View Current Price & Availability →

Gold Bar

1 oz Gold Bar – Carded

A .9999 fine one-ounce gold bar from a recognized producer.

View Current Price & Availability →

Fractional Gold

1 gram Gold Bar – Carded

A compact fractional gold bar sealed in a protective assay card.

View Current Price & Availability →

Silver Coin

2026 Silver American Eagle

A current-year one-ounce American silver bullion coin.

View Current Price & Availability →

Silver Coin

2026 1 oz Silver Maple Leaf

A current-year Canadian bullion coin struck in .9999 fine silver.

View Current Price & Availability →

Silver Bar

10 oz Silver Bar

An IRA-eligible silver bar offering efficient weight and storage.

View Current Price & Availability →

Silver Round

1 oz Silver Round

An IRA-eligible .999 silver round with a design that varies.

View Current Price & Availability →

Product availability and pricing can change with inventory and precious-metal markets. Follow each product link for current information.

Frequently Asked Questions

Putting It All Together

Scrap gold and silver prices today are driven by live spot prices and the actual precious metal content in each item. The process for getting the best return is the same whether you’re selling a single ring or an entire estate collection:

1. Weigh and sort your items by metal type and purity.
2. Use the examples and formulas above to form a rough melt-value estimate.
3. Contact Agate Precious Metals for a transparent, up-to-date quote based on current market conditions.

By understanding the basics of spot prices, purity, and melt value, you can find confidence in knowing you’re getting a fair offer for your precious metals. The market is strong right now-gold spot near $4,320 per oz and silver in the low $60s per oz-which means scrap items are generating more value than they have in years. Don’t let good metal sit in a drawer. Weigh it, sort it, and reach out to Agate Precious Metals today.

Explore the complete precious-metals selection at Agate Precious Metals.