How gold melt value is calculated
The calculation is gross weight in grams × purity fraction ÷ 31.1034768 × the user-entered price per troy ounce. Keep full precision until display. The page deliberately has no default, cached, or fetched price, so every result should retain the quote source, currency, market date, and time.
For a reproducible example, 20 grams of 14K gold contains 20 × 14 ÷ 24 = 11.6667 grams of pure gold, or about 0.3751 troy ounce. At an illustrative user-entered price of $2,400 per troy ounce, the gross melt value is about $900.22 before any deductions. The example price is not a live quote. Spot benchmarks, retail coin prices, futures, and dealer quotes can differ.
Apply the same user-priced metal-content discipline to another precious metal with the silver calculator while using silver-specific fineness evidence.
Identify gold mass units before applying purity
Precious metals commonly use troy ounces, while household scales may display avoirdupois ounces, grams, or kilograms. Those ounces are not interchangeable. NIST gives exactly 31.1034768 grams per troy ounce and 1.55517384 grams per pennyweight. Record the scale unit and subtract non-gold components only when their mass is supported rather than guessed.
Enter fineness as karat out of 24 or as a direct percent. FTC guidance describes 24K as pure gold and 18K as 18 parts gold out of 24, so 18K corresponds to 75% before any assay uncertainty. A stamp can be missing, fraudulent, worn, or subject to tolerance. The calculator performs arithmetic on the entered mark; it does not authenticate or assay the item.
To express a historical nominal gold quote in broad U.S. purchasing power, use the inflation calculator while preserving both the metal-price and CPI observation dates.
Keep gold melt arithmetic outside appraisal and investment advice
Precious-metal prices fluctuate and the page provides no current market data. It cannot identify counterfeit metal, hallmark law, title, theft, sanctions, tax basis, reporting, or dealer solvency. Gold concentration also creates portfolio risk that a melt calculation cannot assess.
Use calibrated measurements, qualified testing, and current written quotes for consequential transactions. Seek appropriate tax, legal, or investment help. This page is educational conversion and valuation arithmetic only, not a live price, assay, appraisal, dealer offer, purchase recommendation, or guarantee of sale proceeds.
Read common karat marks and buyer deductions separately
Common fineness relationships are 24K = nominally pure, 22K = 91.67%, 18K = 75%, 14K = 58.33%, and 10K = 41.67%. Marks such as 999, 916 or 917, 750, 585, and 417 often correspond to those levels, but a stamp is evidence to check rather than an assay result.
A percentage deduction can represent a declared buyer margin or refining allowance, while a flat deduction can represent a specific charge. Compare proposals only after aligning weight, assay, spot source and timestamp, currency, settlement method, and every fee. The calculator does not assert that any deduction is standard, fair, lawful, or actually charged, and it rejects a combination greater than gross melt value rather than displaying a negative offer.
If a gold quote is stated in British pounds and must be translated, use the GBP-to-USD calculator with a dated rate and costs; the gold page does not perform FX.