How Much Is 18K Gold Worth Per Gram?

By Steven Sinatra · June 30, 2026

18K is the karat you'll find on engagement rings, fine European jewelry, and better watch cases — the sweet spot where a piece is mostly gold but still hard enough to wear. It's the highest-value karat most sellers regularly bring in. Here's exactly what a gram of it is worth.

How much is 18K gold worth per gram?

At a hypothetical gold price of $4,000 per troy ounce, 18K gold is worth about $96.45 per gram at melt. 18K is 75% pure gold (that's the "750" stamp you'll find on it), so a gram of 18K contains 0.75 grams of actual gold. The remaining quarter is alloy — usually copper and silver — that gives the metal its color and durability but carries no gold value.

The math is the same as any scrap gold: a gram of pure gold at $4,000/ozt is worth $4,000 ÷ 31.1035 = $128.60, and 18K is 75% of that → $96.45 per gram of melt value. (Gold moves daily, so treat the dollar figures here as a worked example, not today's price — run your real weight against the live calculator.)

18K gold value by weight

Multiply the per-gram melt value by how many grams you have. At $4,000/ozt:

These are melt values — the gold content only. A buyer pays a percentage of melt (see below), and any stones, clasps, or non-gold parts must be subtracted from the weight first. On a stone-set 18K ring, that difference can be several grams.

Is 18K gold worth more than 14K?

Yes — noticeably. Karat is just the gold fraction, so value scales directly with it. 18K is 75% gold and 14K is 58.3%, which makes 18K worth about 29% more per gram. Per gram at $4,000/ozt:

So an 18K piece and a 14K piece of identical weight are worth very different money — worth knowing when you're sorting a mixed lot. The stamp is the fastest way to tell them apart; here's what the 417, 583, and 750 stamps mean. When a piece isn't marked, karat still has to be confirmed by acid or electronic test before you weigh it as 18K.

What does the 750 stamp mean?

The 750 hallmark means 750 parts gold per 1,000 — 75% pure, the exact definition of 18-karat gold. It's the most common way 18K is marked worldwide, especially on European jewelry, and you may also see it as .750 or plain 18K. All three mean the same thing. Treat the stamp as a starting point, not proof: replated or counterfeit pieces can carry a false mark, so a quick test is cheap insurance on anything valuable.

What will a buyer actually pay?

Expect an offer below melt. A fair buyer pays roughly 80–90% of melt for clean, clearly-marked 18K jewelry; pawn shops and quick cash-for-gold counters often pay less — sometimes 60–70% — because they price conservatively and need margin. On the 10-gram example ($964.51 melt), an 85% payout is about $819.83. Because 18K carries so much gold per gram, a few points of payout is real money — knowing the melt number first is what stops you accepting a lowball.

Estimate it in seconds

Weigh the piece in grams, confirm it's solid 18K, and let the tool do the rest. Scrap Gold Pro prices 18K against live spot prices and lets you set your own payout percentage, so you can quote a ring — or a whole tray of estate jewelry — on the spot. It's free on web, iOS, and Android.

Open the calculator →

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