Guide
What is 12K gold worth?
12K gold is 50% pure gold. Solid 12K jewelry is uncommon today; you're far more likely to see 12K in a gold-filled mark like "1/20 12K GF", which means something very different.
Updated October 28, 2026 · Prices as of November 2, 2026, 6:20 p.m. Pacific
What 12K gold is worth today
Gold is trading at $3,942 per troy ounce (the Kitco bid). At that price we pay $59.57/g for 12K gold, which is 94% of the value of the pure gold it contains.
Scrap prices are per gram of metal after melting, not per gram of what you send. Stones are removed, and dirt, glue, springs, and anything else that isn't gold or silver burn off or separate out, so the weight paid is usually less than your scale shows.
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What is 12K gold?
12K means 12 parts gold out of 24: exactly half pure gold, stamped 12K or 500.
- Solid 12K turns up in some older American and European pieces. It's paid on its full 50% gold content.
- 12K gold-filled is marked with a fraction, such as "1/20 12K GF". It means a layer of 12K gold makes up one-twentieth of the piece's weight, so the gold in it is about 2.5% of the weight. See what gold-filled is worth.
- How to tell: a fraction or "GF", "RGP", or "G.F." in the mark means gold-filled or rolled gold plate, not solid 12K.
Work out the value yourself
- Pure gold per gram = gold price ÷ 31.1035 (grams in a troy ounce)
- 12K gold per gram = that × 0.5
- What a buyer pays = that × the buyer's percentage
For example, with gold at $4,000 an ounce, a gram of pure gold is worth $128.60, so a gram of solid 12K holds about $64.30 of gold. At our 94% of melt value, that's about $60.44 a gram, and 20 grams of solid 12K comes to about $1,209.
Where you'll find 12K
Older watch chains, lockets, cufflinks, pens, and eyeglass frames, usually as gold-filled; solid 12K mostly in older or European pieces. Check the stamp for a fraction or GF before assuming it's solid.
Check these before you sell
Check the stamp (see how to read gold stamps), weigh your pieces in grams, and ask any buyer what percentage of melt value they pay, and of which gold price. Scrap is paid on the gold actually there after melting, so stones, clasp springs, and solder don't count; here's why the melt can weigh less.
Other karats: 9K · 10K · 12K · 14K · 18K · 22K · 24K
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At today's price we pay $59.57/g for 12K gold. Send photos and a rough weight for a free written estimate.