Gold 101
Everything you need to understand gold — from how it's priced and tested to why it has been the world's premier store of value for 5,000 years.
Suggested Learning Path
New to gold? Follow this sequence for the best understanding.
What Is a Karat? Gold Purity Explained (10k, 14k, 18k, 24k)
A karat measures gold purity on a scale of 24 parts. Pure 24k gold is 99.9 percent gold, 18k is 75 percent, 14k is 58.3 percent, and 10k, the minimum that can legally be sold as gold in the United States, is 41.7 percent. The remainder in each case is other metals, alloyed in for strength and color. The 24-part scale
Why Does Gold Have Value? 5,000 Years in Plain English
Gold has value because it is scarce, durable, and universally recognized, and because roughly 5,000 years of human history have settled on it as money. All the gold ever mined, about 216,000 tonnes, would fit in a cube around 22 meters on a side, and nearly all of it still exists somewhere today. Chemistry did most of the work
What Is Melt Value? What Your Gold Is Actually Worth
Melt value is what the pure gold content of an item is worth at the current spot price, ignoring brand, craftsmanship, and history. The formula is simple: weight in grams, times purity, times the spot price per gram. A 10 gram 14k ring contains 5.83 grams of pure gold, and its melt value is that metal at today's price. The formula, step by step
Why Central Banks Buy Gold (and What It Signals)
Central banks buy gold because it is a reserve asset that is no one's liability: it cannot default, be printed by a rival, or be frozen by a foreign government. And they have been buying at a historic pace, adding more than 1,000 tonnes in each of 2022, 2023, and 2024, according to World Gold Council figures. What reserves are for
What Is the Gold Spot Price and Who Sets It?
The gold spot price is the current market price of one troy ounce, 31.1035 grams, of pure gold for immediate delivery. No single authority sets it. It emerges from continuous global trading, and it is anchored twice each business day by the LBMA Gold Price auction in London, the benchmark referenced in contracts worldwide. What spot actually means
Ready to sell your gold?
Get the best price for your gold — paid in cash or Bitcoin. Free insured shipping, an assay you can watch, payment within 48 hours.
Start Selling →