Three things set the value of raw placer gold: how much you have, how pure it is, and how big the pieces are. The third one surprises people — and it is where most sellers lose money.
Gross weight × purity × gold price = your gold’s metal value
At 89% purity and $4,101/oz, one gram of placer gold contains about $117 of gold. That is the floor. Coarse gold and nuggets sell for more than that, because collectors buy them whole rather than melted.
The trap: a quote of “85% of spot” can mean two completely different numbers depending on whether it is applied to your gross weight or to the gold actually inside it. That difference is explained below, and it is worth real money.
This calculator uses the same three inputs a buyer uses. If you do not know your purity, leave it on the regional estimate — placer gold from a given district tends to fall in a predictable range, and the figures behind those ranges come from published assay data.
The estimate is shown as a range rather than a single figure, because until your gold is tested, a range is the honest answer. Set your purity and the range tightens.
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A troy ounce is 31.1 g, a pennyweight is 1.56 g.
Based on typical purity for Alaska (82–93% gold). Drag the slider if you know yours and this tightens up.
Estimate only, at $4,101/oz gold. Your firm offer comes after we weigh and test the actual lot, and you are free to decline it.
Placer gold is sold by gross weight — what your scale reads once the gold is clean and dry. Two things matter before you weigh: get the black sand out with a magnet, and dry it completely. Trapped water reads as weight on your scale but not on the buyer’s, and that gap turns into an argument later.
The units trip people up more than anything else. Gold trades in troy ounces, not the ounces on a kitchen scale. A troy ounce is 31.1 grams, about 10% heavier than the 28.35 g avoirdupois ounce.
| Unit | In grams | Metal value at 89% purity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 gram | 1.00 g | ~$116 |
| 1 pennyweight | 1.56 g | ~$181 |
| 1 troy ounce | 31.10 g | ~$3,619 |
| 1 avoirdupois ounce | 28.35 g | ~$3,299 |
Metal value only, at $4,101 per troy ounce of pure gold. Coarse gold and nuggets carry a premium above these figures.
Natural placer gold is never pure. It is alloyed with silver, and often a little copper, and how much depends entirely on the deposit it came from. Geologists measure this as fineness — parts of gold per thousand. Gold at 890 fine is 89% gold.
| District | Fineness | Gold content |
|---|---|---|
| Koyukuk–Chandalar | 893 avg, 46 localities | 89.3% |
| Fourth of July Creek | 892 avg, 22 assays | 89.2% |
| Morelock Creek | ~922 | 92.2% |
| Moran Dome | 835 | 83.5% |
| Fortymile River region | 620–927 range | 62–92.7% |
Figures from USGS and Alaska DGGS assay summaries. Fineness measures the metal alloy; adhering quartz or iron staining lowers effective purity further.
A buyer who assumes 18k when your gold is actually 89% has taken 16% off the top before any payout rate is applied.
Ask any buyer one question: do you test my purity, and will the tested figure appear in writing on my offer? If the answer is vague, the number they quote is a guess in their favour. More on purity and testing →
This is the single most expensive piece of confusion in the placer gold trade, and almost nobody explains it. Spot price is the price of pure gold. So any “% of spot” quote has to multiply spot by some weight — and buyers use two different ones.
| The quote | The arithmetic | You get |
|---|---|---|
| “85% of spot” | 0.85 × 100 g × $130.73 | $11,112 |
| “95% of contained” | 0.95 × 89 g × $130.73 | $11,053 |
A quote of X% of gross weight equals exactly full melt value when X happens to match your purity.
| If your gold is | “85% of gross” actually pays |
|---|---|
| 70% pure | 121% of melt — you win |
| 80% pure | 106% of melt |
| 85% pure | 100% of melt — break-even |
| 89% pure | 96% of melt |
| 95% pure | 89% of melt — you lose |
Always ask which basis a quote uses. A buyer who cannot answer that instantly is not one to mail gold to.
Here is the part that catches people out: two lots of identical weight and identical purity can be worth very different amounts. A gram of gold dust and a gram of chunky pickers contain the same gold. The pickers are worth considerably more.
Fine gold gets melted, so it is worth its metal content and no more. Coarse gold, pickers and nuggets get sold whole — to collectors, jewellers and prospectors who want a natural piece. Nature makes far fewer of those.
If a buyer melts everything, they cannot pay you a nugget premium — there is nowhere for that value to come from.
The market
| Where | Typically pays | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Pawn shop | 40–60% of melt | Most will not take raw placer, black sand or concentrates at all |
| Mail-in gold buyer | Up to 85% of refined value | Shipping often insured only to $5,000 — about 1.4 troy ounces — and everything gets melted, so nuggets earn no premium |
| Scrap refiner | Up to 95% of gold content | Minimum lot fees of $100–500, and small lots get estimated rather than assayed |
| Selling it yourself | Retail, minus fees | Marketplace fees near 13%, plus photography, shipping and buyer disputes |
| Nugget specialist | 90–100% of gross weight | Great for showpiece nuggets, not interested in your fines |
| Placer Gold Buyers | 85–115% of gold content | We take the whole lot, fines included, grade it by size, and pay above melt on the coarse gold because we sell those pieces whole |
Rates above are what these buyers publish or are commonly reported to pay; they change, and yours depends on your material. The point is the shape of the market, not a promise about any one competitor.
A gram of placer gold at 89% purity holds about 0.89 g of pure gold — roughly 2.9% of a troy ounce — so its metal value is 89% of whatever gold is trading at per gram. Our calculator applies the live gold price for you. What you are paid depends on the size of the pieces: fine dust sells at or slightly below metal value, while nuggets sell above it because they are sold whole rather than melted.
Most placer gold runs between 70% and 95% gold, with the balance mostly silver. Alaska assays range from roughly 620 to 927 fine depending on the district, with many districts averaging near 890 — about 89% gold. The only way to know your own figure is to have it tested.
Coarse gold is. Pickers, nuggets and quartz specimens sell whole to collectors, so they carry a rarity premium above metal content. Fine dust and small flakes generally get melted, so they are worth their gold content and little more.
Yes. Pull the magnetite out with a magnet and dry the gold completely. Wet or sandy material adds weight your buyer will not pay for, and it turns a simple transaction into a dispute about the scale.
Usually not. A reputable buyer tests purity as part of intake and shows you the figure. A formal fire assay is destructive and only makes economic sense on larger lots, which is why buyers who handle small quantities estimate instead — and why it matters whether they estimate honestly.
Divide grams by 31.1035. Gold is always priced in troy ounces, which are about 10% heavier than the ounces on a kitchen scale, so using the wrong ounce overstates your gold by roughly 10%.
Run the numbers in under a minute, then decide. Free insured shipping both ways, and no obligation.
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