Find Out the Value of your Scrap Gold

Those unused pendants, broken pieces of jewellery may have been lying in your closet for long. Now it is necessary to determine their price. It would really act to your advantage, if you can figure out the worth of the scrap gold that has been lying around for quite a while now, before you visit the dealer and decide to sell gold for cash.

Before you sell off the gold, it is necessary for you to determine the carat rating of your gold. The purity of gold is measured in terms of carats. The same holds true for precious stones such as diamonds as well. However, many are unaware of what a carat of gold is.

Pure gold is rated as measuring 24 carats. This rating is particularly used with respect to gold bullion bars. These are hardly used in jewellery. Gold also has other metals that are added to it and these include silver or copper. The addition of these materials makes the gold much more hard and durable in the longer run.

The measurement is carried out in the following manner. If one part of gold is added to 23 parts of copper, the gold rating is taken to be 1 carat. Similarly, if 2 parts gold is added to 22 parts copper, then the gold rating is taken to be 2 carats. The carat rating for any piece of gold jewellery is based on the amount of other metals that are combined with pure gold.  The higher the carats the better when it comes to assessing the value of a piece of gold jewellery. When it comes to regular usage, the gold jewellery that we use usually is of 9 carats, 14 carats, 18 carats or even 22 carats.

A piece of jewellery that is 22 carat gold is thus 22 parts gold and 2 parts of some other metal.  It is extremely pure as much as 91.66%. Similarly, 18-carat gold is 18 parts gold and 6 parts of some other metal. It is 75% pure gold. The value of a piece of jewellery automatically increases when the gold content is higher. If the gold is hallmarked, which is generally the case if you are dealing with a piece of jewellery, then you can easily determine the place from where it was bought. If not, then you need to put in a good deal of research to make an informed decision about selling off the piece.

It is also important to weigh the gold correctly. Using an accurate digital scale is preferable in this regard. Another important bit of fact that should be kept in mind is the fact that gold of the same carat size should all be weighed together. It is not a good idea to mix up 14-carat gold jewellery with that of 22 carats. Gold is usually measured with respect to grams or troy ounces. Some scrap gold dealers also make use of pennyweight measures. It is advisable to make a note of the gold weight in grams when you attempt to sell gold in UK.

Author Bio:  Simon Corall works as finance professional. He has published several articles on the fluctuating price of gold in the current market. He advises people to be abreast with the latest news if they plan to sell gold for cash.

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