Every rate below is a percentage of your lot’s tested gold content — gross weight multiplied by measured purity. Not an assumed purity, and not a percentage of a number we decline to explain.
Bigger gold earns more because it is rarer, and because we sell it whole rather than melting it.
Fine material that sifts straight through a 40 mesh screen. It sells by weight, so the rate tracks refinery pricing closely.
The classic panning result. Jewelers and hobbyists both want it, which lifts the rate above plain melt value.
Big enough to pick up one at a time. Collectors buy these by the piece, so they earn very close to full metal value.
Sold whole to collectors and never melted. That is exactly why the rate clears 100% of the gold content.
Standout nuggets and quartz specimens are quoted individually rather than off this table. Shape, character and visible quartz add value unrelated to metal content, and pricing such a piece by weight alone would shortchange you.
Spot price is the price of pure gold, so any “% of spot” quote has to multiply it by some weight. Buyers use two different ones, and the difference is worth real money.
A quote of X% of gross weight equals exactly full melt value when X happens to match your purity.
Which means an 85%-of-gross offer pays you full melt only if your gold is exactly 85% pure. Cleaner gold, and you are quietly underpaid. The full explanation, worked through →
Your options
We would rather you know the whole field before you ship anything. The five kinds of placer gold buyer, compared →
| 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.
Rates only mean something once you know what qualifies. See everything we buy — and the few things we turn away →
Your gross weight multiplied by your tested purity gives the contained gold — the actual gold in your lot. Our rates are a percentage of that figure, not of your gross weight. The two produce very different numbers, and buyers rarely say which they mean.
Because we do not melt coarse gold. Pickers, nuggets and specimens sell whole to collectors at a premium over metal value, so paying above melt on those grades still works. A buyer who melts everything cannot do this.
Bring us a written competing offer and we will look at it honestly. If a specialist collector dealer would genuinely beat us on a showpiece nugget, we will tell you so rather than match a number we cannot justify.
The rate for your grade is. The dollar figure moves with the live gold market until your lot is tested, so the final number can shift either way between your estimate and your offer.
Free insured shipping both ways, graded on camera, no obligation to accept.
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