A step-by-step way to estimate your ring's value before you sell it.
A gold ring’s value comes down to three things: its weight, its purity (karat), and the current gold price. Here’s how to estimate it yourself in a few minutes, before you ever walk into a jewelry store or gold buyer.
Look on the inside of the band for a tiny stamp reading something like 10k, 14k, 18k, or 24k (sometimes written as 417, 585, 750, or 999 — the purity in parts per thousand). No stamp doesn’t always mean it isn’t gold, but it makes the karat harder to confirm without testing.
A kitchen scale usually isn’t precise enough — rings are light, typically 1–10 grams, so small errors matter. A jewelry or postal scale that measures in grams (or better, tenths of a gram) gives a much more accurate reading.
Diamonds, gemstones, and some prong settings aren’t gold and don’t count toward melt value, but they can add separate value of their own that a gold-only calculation won’t capture. If your ring has stones, treat the calculator result as the value of the gold band alone.
Plug the weight and karat into the Gold Calculator and it will apply today’s live gold price automatically. For example, a 4-gram 14k ring at roughly $85/gram gold is worth about $198 in gold content alone.
A buyer will typically offer a percentage of melt value, not the full amount, since they need to cover refining costs and profit margin. See How to Sell Scrap Gold Safely for what to expect and how to avoid a lowball offer.
No — diamonds and other gemstones have their own separate value that a gold melt calculator doesn't account for. The calculator only values the gold metal itself.
It may still be gold, but purity should be confirmed with a testing kit or by a jeweler before you rely on any value estimate — see our guide on how to test gold at home.