How scrap gold value is calculated
Scrap gold value is based on how much pure gold it actually contains, not its total weight. Karat purity tells you what fraction of the item is gold: 24K is essentially pure, while lower karats are alloyed with other metals for durability.
The formula
This calculator converts your item’s weight to troy ounces (the standard unit for precious metal pricing), multiplies by the purity fraction for the selected karat to get the pure gold content, and then multiplies that by the current spot price per troy ounce.
This gives the raw melt value only, for general reference. What a buyer actually pays is typically lower, since refiners and buyers deduct a margin for refining costs and profit. Spot prices change constantly, so update the price field with a current quote for accuracy.