If you’re selling gold in Houston, it’s a good idea to have a good idea what it’s worth before you speak with any of the gold buyers in Houston.

To say that all gold isn’t created equal is simply a fact that anyone selling gold in Houston needs to understand before they decided to talk to a gold dealer. While all gold is extremely valuable the items made from gold will have varying amounts of gold actually in them.

When someone talks about pure gold or fine gold they are usually talking about 24K or 24 carat gold. This implies that there is the least amount of “other” material mixed with the gold. 24K gold is typically understood to mean that the gold content of the item, whether it’s jewelry, a coin, or a gold bar has 99.99% gold content. That’s pretty darn close to 100%, but there are actually coins made that have a gold content of 99.999% and yes, that extra .009% does make a difference.

Purity of gold is described as “carat’s”. Gold is found in 24K, 22K, 18K, 14K and 10K. As the number decreases so does the content of gold in the metal. To get these lower purity levels the gold is combined with other metals like nickle, silver, palladium, and copper. White gold is has nickle, silver, or palladium mixed with the gold and it gives it the “white” and shiny appearance. Rose colored gold has a higher copper content to it, giving it the reddish tint.

It is very difficult to tell just by looking at a piece of gold exactly what the other contents are that have been combined with it but the amount of gold is determined by a mathematical equation. The following is a list of what the actual gold content is of an item based on its purity or carat value.

• 24-carat .999 or higher
• 22-carat .916
• 18-carat .750
• 14-carat .585
• 12-carat .500
• 10-carat .417

So, from these numbers, along with the current spot price and the guidelines we provided for selling your gold in our Guide to Buying and Selling Gold and Silver in Houston, you can get a pretty good idea of how much your gold is worth.

Example:

1 oz piece of 18K gold jewelry.

Current spot price = $1600 per oz

18K gold is .750 fine or 75% pure gold.

$1600 per oz X .750 pure = $1200 worth of gold using the figures we just mentioned.

The final part of determining how much your gold is worth is negotiating a percentage of the current spot price that a gold dealer is offering you. We recommend not accepting anything less than 90% of the current spot price and not expecting more than 97% of the spot price. We explain all of this in our Free Guide to Buying and Selling Gold and Silver in Houston that you can download here.

In the end how much your gold is worth greatly depends on you. Gold buyers in Houston are some of the best in the country and the most profitable. Taking the time to gain some basic knowledge about gold and selling gold in Houston along with dealing with fair, honest and experienced gold buyers in Houston will greatly determine the outcome when selling gold in Houston and the surrounding areas.