Precious Metal Prices FAQ

What is a spot price?

A spot price is the going rate to buy or sell one unit of a metal for immediate delivery, quoted per troy ounce for gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, and per pound for copper. It is set by continuous global trading and moves second by second while markets are open. It is the baseline that coins, bars, and scrap are priced from, before any dealer premium or discount. See our guide to how spot prices work for the full picture.

Why is the price here slightly different from other sites?

Our board shows aggregated indicative feeds, and every source samples the market at slightly different moments, so small gaps between sites are normal. Prices can also be briefly delayed, and two numbers captured a few seconds apart will differ by a little. Treat any single quote as indicative rather than exact, and confirm with a dealer before you transact.

Are these prices live?

Yes for the five majors: gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and copper are fetched live by your own browser and shown with a freshness stamp that tells you when they last updated. If the live feed is ever unreachable, the site falls back to a daily reference rate, and then to a built-in snapshot from 2026-07-22, always labeled so you know exactly what you are seeing. The rare platinum-group metals rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium are not traded on an open live feed, so they show published dealer prices updated monthly.

Why does the price pause on weekends?

The global metals markets close over the weekend, so there is no new trading to move the spot price until they reopen. During that pause the number you see is the last trade from Friday's close, held steady until Sunday evening when trading resumes. A flat weekend price is normal and not a sign the feed is broken.

What is a troy ounce vs a regular ounce?

A troy ounce is the standard unit for precious metals and weighs 31.1034768 grams, while a regular (avoirdupois) ounce, the kind used for food and mail, weighs 28.3495 grams. The troy ounce is about 10% heavier, so a 'one ounce' gold coin holds more metal than a kitchen scale's ounce would suggest. When a spot price is quoted per ounce, it always means the troy ounce.

How much is 1 gram of gold worth?

It depends on the live gold price and the karat, so there is no single fixed number. To find it, take the spot price per troy ounce, divide by 31.1034768 to get the price per gram of pure gold, then multiply by the purity fraction. As an illustration only, at the 2026-07-22 snapshot price of $4,136.30 per troy ounce, one gram of fine 24k gold works out to about $132.99, and one gram of 14k gold (58.3% pure) to about $77.58; the live gold page and the calculator do this math at the current price for you.

What does 14k or 18k mean?

Karat measures how much of an alloy is pure gold, out of 24 parts. 24k is essentially pure (99.9%), 18k is 18 parts gold or 75% pure, and 14k is 14 parts or about 58.3% pure; 22k is 91.7% and 10k is 41.7%. Because value tracks the pure-gold content, a 14k piece is worth roughly 58.3% of what the same weight in fine gold would be. Our scrap gold value guide walks through the karat math on real pieces.

What is sterling silver?

Sterling silver is an alloy that is 92.5% pure silver, usually stamped .925, with the remaining 7.5% typically copper for hardness. To value it, use 92.5% of the silver content: multiply the weight by 0.925 and then by the silver spot price. Older US coins are a different 90% ('coin silver'), which our junk silver melt value guide covers in detail.

What is melt value, and why do dealers pay less than it?

Melt value is the raw worth of the metal in an item: its weight times its purity times the current spot price, ignoring any collectible or craftsmanship value. Dealers pay less than melt because they need a margin to cover refining, assaying, handling, and their own profit, so a buy offer is typically a percentage below spot. That spread is normal; melt value is your ceiling for scrap, not the check you will be handed. The free calculator gives you the melt value instantly so you can judge any offer.

Is anything I type uploaded?

No. Every weight, purity, and price you enter is processed entirely in your own browser, and nothing is uploaded, stored, or seen by us. You can read the full details in our privacy policy.

Is this financial advice?

No. Everything here is general information and educational math, not investment, tax, or financial advice, and nothing on the site is an offer to buy or sell metal. Prices are indicative and can be briefly delayed, and dealers trade at a premium or discount to spot, so confirm any figure with a professional before you act on it.