About this calculator
This calculator is for education only and does not constitute investment advice. Melt value is the simplest valuation in precious metals: weigh the item, find how much of it is actually metal, and price that metal at spot. Everything else — the design, the brand, the minting — is worth whatever a collector will pay on top, and a scrap dealer will pay nothing for it.
Past returns do not guarantee future results. Melt value is not what a dealer will pay you. Refiners assay the metal, charge for refining, and take a margin, and dealers buy below melt to leave room for all three — so the offer you actually receive is below the figure on this page. Use melt value as the ceiling in a negotiation, not as the expected cheque. The default $4,000 gold spot price is as of 2026-10-27, an example only: enter the current spot price before trusting any figure.
How to use it
- Pick the metal — all four listed metals are quoted per troy ounce.
- Enter the weight in troy ounces (divide grams by 31.1035 if your scale reads grams).
- Enter the purity as a percentage: 99.9% for fine metal, 91.67% for 22 karat, 92.5% for sterling silver.
- Enter the current spot price per troy ounce (the default is only an example). Read the pure-metal content and the melt value, and the table for what the value becomes if spot moves.
The formula
Purity converts the gross weight into fine weight: a 1-ounce item at 99.9% purity holds 0.999 ounces of pure metal, and only that pure weight is priced at spot. The per-ounce melt value (purity × spot) is the useful shortcut — multiply it by any weight to value any quantity of the same alloy. Karat converts as karat / 24, so 22 karat is 91.67% and 18 karat is 75.00%. Assay, refining and dealer margin are excluded, so real offers sit below melt.
Worked example
One troy ounce of fine gold at 99.9% purity with spot at $4,000 per ounce (as of 2026-10-27, an example, not a live quote): pure metal content is 0.999 ounces and the melt value is $3,996.00, or $3,996.00 per ounce of the alloy. Ten troy ounces of 99.9% silver at an assumed $50 per ounce hold 9.99 ounces of pure silver worth $499.50. In both cases a dealer offer will come in below the melt figure once assay, refining and margin are taken out.
Sources: Melt value = weight × purity × spot price per troy ounce; 1 troy ounce = 31.1035 grams. Metals listed are those quoted per troy ounce. Spot is user-entered; the $4,000 gold default is an example as of 2026-10-27, not a live quote. Dealer discounts, assay and refining fees are excluded. Last updated: October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the dealer offer below the melt value?
Because the dealer must assay the metal to confirm the purity, pay a refiner to melt and purify it, and still make a margin — and the dealer takes the price risk between buying from you and selling the refined metal on. Typical discounts run from a few percent for recognized coins to much more for unmarked scrap; the melt value is the ceiling, not the quote.
Is the default $4,000 gold price live?
No — it is the spot price as of 2026-10-27, not a live quote. This page fetches no market data. Check a current quote, enter it, and the whole page recomputes; a stale spot price silently over- or under-states every figure.
Grams or troy ounces?
Troy ounces, the unit precious metals are quoted in. One troy ounce is 31.1035 grams — not the 28.35 grams of an ordinary ounce. If your scale reads grams, divide by 31.1035 before entering; entering grams as ounces overstates the value by about 10%.
How do karats convert to purity?
Divide by 24: 24 karat is 100%, 22 karat is 91.67%, 18 karat is 75.00%, 14 karat is 58.33%. Sterling silver is 92.5% and coin silver is usually 90%. Hallmarks state the fineness directly when they are present; unmarked items need an assay before any figure here can be trusted.
What formula does this melt value calculator use?
Pure metal = weight × purity; melt value = pure metal × spot price per troy ounce Purity converts the gross weight into fine weight: a 1-ounce item at 99.9% purity holds 0.999 ounces of pure metal, and only that pure weight is priced at spot. The per-ounce melt value (purity × spot) is the useful shortcut — multiply it by any weight to value any quantity of the same alloy. Karat converts as karat / 24, so 22 karat is 91.67% and 18 karat is 75.00%. Assay, refining and dealer margin are excluded, so real offers sit below melt. The worked example on this page applies the formula step by step with real numbers, so you can verify the result by hand.