A drawer of tangled chains, a handful of single earrings whose partners are long gone, a class ring nobody wears, a bent bangle, a broken clasp. Most people who walk up to our counter are not selling a treasured heirloom; they are clearing out gold that has sat unused for years and want to know what it is actually worth before they let it go. That is the kind of gold this page is about.
We are a Madison Avenue gold buyer in Midtown Manhattan, buying gold directly from the public for over 15 years. This page explains plainly how we handle gold: what we buy, how we read the karat, how we weigh each piece, and how the offer is built from the live gold price. It is written so a first-time seller knows what will happen at the counter before setting foot in our showroom, and knows what to ask any buyer they compare us against.
Everything is tested and weighed in front of you, we explain each step as we go, and there is no pressure to sell. The appraisal is free whether you sell or not. If you decide to sell, we pay cash, which is covered on the cash for gold page.
Call for a free appraisal, or come into our Madison Avenue showroom with your gold.
What gold we buy
We buy gold in almost every form the public brings it in, whole or broken, wearable or not. Gold is valued on the metal itself, so a snapped chain is worth the same per gram as one that still clasps. Common pieces include:
- Gold jewelry of any karat from 10k to 24k: rings, chains, bracelets, bangles, earrings, pendants and brooches
- Broken and scrap gold: single earrings, pieces with missing stones, snapped chains, bent or crushed items
- Class rings, signet rings and old wedding bands
- Gold watch cases and gold watch bracelets, where the watch itself is not the value
- Dental gold, such as crowns and bridgework
- Gold that is stamped and gold with no stamp at all, which we test either way
Two things sit on their own pages. Gold coins and small bars are priced differently from jewelry, so the gold coin buyers page handles those. If a gold piece holds a diamond or a colored stone, we weigh the gold here and value the stone separately; our diamond buyers page explains how a diamond is graded. If you are not sure which category a piece falls into, bring it in and we will sort it with you, or start on the jewelry buyers page, which routes each item type to the right place.
How we test the gold in front of you
The first question on any gold piece is how much actual gold it contains. Gold is almost never pure in jewelry; it is mixed with other metals for strength and color, and that mix is what we measure. We do the testing at the counter where you can watch, and we tell you what we find before we talk about price.
Reading the karat stamp
Karat measures gold purity in parts out of 24, so 24 karat is pure gold and a lower number means more alloy. The stamp on a piece, if it has one, is the starting point. The common grades and what they actually contain are set out below.
| Stamp | Gold content | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 24k | Pure gold | Soft and rarely used for everyday jewelry |
| 18k | 75 percent gold | Higher-end jewelry, three quarters gold by content |
| 14k | About 58.3 percent gold | The most common grade sold in the United States |
| 10k | About 41.7 percent gold | The lowest fineness that may be marked and sold as gold in the US |
Under the Federal Trade Commission’s jewelry guides, an item has to be at least 10 karat before it can be described and marked as gold at all, which is why 10k is the floor you will see. A stamp such as 585 means the same as 14k and 750 means 18k; those are the European marks for the same fineness written as parts per thousand.
Testing when a piece is not stamped or the stamp is doubtful
Plenty of real gold carries no stamp, and plenty of stamped items turn out to be plated. We never take a stamp on faith. On an unstamped or questionable piece we test the metal itself, and you watch us do it. A small scratch on a testing stone treated with graded acid, or an electronic tester, shows whether the piece is gold and roughly what karat it is. We explain which test we are using and what it tells us.
This is also where gold-plated and gold-filled items get sorted out. Plating is a microscopic layer of gold over a base metal, and gold-filled is a thin bonded layer, so neither holds enough recoverable gold to be bought by weight the way solid gold is. We will tell you honestly if a piece is plated rather than solid, so you are not left wondering later.
How your gold is weighed
Once we know the karat, weight is the other half of the answer. Precious metals are weighed in troy ounces, the standard unit for gold in the trade, and one troy ounce is about 31.1 grams. A jeweler’s scale often reads in pennyweights rather than ounces: there are 20 pennyweights to a troy ounce, and each pennyweight is 24 grains. If you see a scale showing pennyweights, it is using the troy system, not the grocery-store ounce.
We weigh each piece, or each karat group, on a scale you can see, and we weigh the clean gold. Where a piece holds stones, a clasp of a different metal, or a steel watch spring, that weight is set aside so you are paid for gold as gold and the stone is valued on its own. Mixing a 10k chain in with 18k pieces would shortchange the 18k, so we separate gold by karat before anything is weighed.
How the offer is built from the gold price
Raw gold has a public price that moves every day, and a fair offer is built from it rather than pulled from the air. Gold is quoted per troy ounce, and a widely used daily reference is the LBMA Gold Price benchmark, with the current and historic figures published by the World Gold Council. That per-ounce figure is the spot price you will hear quoted.
From there the arithmetic on your gold is straightforward. The purity sets the share of each piece that is actual gold, 14k being about 58.3 percent, and the weight sets how much of it there is. Purity times weight gives the pure gold content, and the spot price per troy ounce turns that into a dollar figure. We show you the weight, name the karat and the day’s gold price, and build the offer in front of you so the number is never a mystery.
No buyer pays the full spot price for second-hand gold, because gold bought over the counter still has to be refined back to pure metal, and a buyer covers that cost and stays in business on the margin. What matters is that the offer tracks the real price and the deduction is reasonable, not hidden. Because we buy directly rather than acting as a middleman, we have one less hand taking a cut. If you want to sanity-check any offer, look up the day’s gold price first; the figure is public.
Bring your gold in for a free, no-pressure appraisal and we will price it with you at the counter.
What to bring when you sell gold
Selling gold at our showroom is quick, and a little preparation makes it quicker. You do not need to clean or sort anything in advance, but a few things help.
- A government-issued photo ID. New York law requires dealers who buy used jewelry and precious metals to record the seller’s name, residence and a description, so we ask for ID before buying gold from anyone.
- All the gold you are considering, even bent, broken or mismatched pieces. It is easier to decide once everything is weighed and priced.
- Any papers you have, such as an old receipt or appraisal. They are not required and do not set the price of scrap gold, but they can help with signed or branded pieces.
- A sense of what you want to keep. There is never any pressure to sell the whole lot. Many people sell the scrap and keep a piece or two, which is fine.
If a piece is more than its gold, say an antique brooch, a signed designer item or a gem-set ring, tell us, because it may be worth more as jewelry than as metal. Older and collectible pieces are covered on the estate jewelry buyers and antique jewelry buyers pages.
Why sell with a Madison Avenue buyer
Our showroom sits on Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, easy to reach by subway, bus or on foot from across the city. We have bought gold directly from the public here for over 15 years, and we buy as a dealer rather than as a middleman, so there is one less hand taking a cut of what your gold is worth.
For someone selling gold, a Madison Avenue showroom has a plain practical advantage over a mail-in company or a pawn shop. You hand your gold across a counter and watch it tested and weighed, rather than sealing it into an envelope and waiting to hear back. The appraisal is free, there is no pressure to sell, and we price against the day’s gold market so you can sanity-check the offer against the public figure. We buy on the spot, in person, and you leave with your gold or with cash, not with a pending claim.
What to ask any gold buyer
We would rather you sell to an informed buyer, even when you are comparing us with others, so here is what a careful seller checks before handing over gold:
- Is the buyer a licensed second-hand dealer? A business buying used jewelry and precious metals in New York City must hold a Secondhand Dealer General license from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
- Is the gold tested and weighed in front of you? You should see the scale and the test, not have the piece disappear into a back room.
- Is the offer explained? A buyer should name the karat, the weight and the day’s gold price, so the number adds up.
- Is there any pressure or any fee? An appraisal should be free and there should be no push to sell on the spot.
- What happens to the item after the sale? Under New York law a second-hand dealer generally may not sell, melt or refine a purchased item until 15 days after the purchase, a waiting period that protects honest sellers and helps recover stolen property.
We welcome every one of these questions and answer them in person. The gold is tested and weighed where you can watch, the offer is built out loud from the karat, the weight and the day’s price, the appraisal is free, and there is no pressure to sell. The point of listing the questions is that a transparent buyer has nothing to hide behind, and you deserve to sell to one.
After we agree on a price
If you accept the offer, we pay cash during the same visit, and we record the sale as the law requires, which is why we ask for ID. The cash for gold page goes through the payment itself in more detail. If you would rather think it over, that is fine; the appraisal costs nothing and there is no obligation to sell. Whatever you decide, you walk out with either your gold or your payment, settled on the day.
Gold is only one of the things we buy. If your lot also holds diamonds, watches or older jewelry, you can sell it all in one visit; see diamond buyers, luxury watch buyers and estate jewelry buyers, or read more about us and how we work. When you are ready, the fastest route is simply to call or to come in.
Call now for a free appraisal on your gold, or visit our Madison Avenue showroom with it in hand.
Questions people ask
How do you decide what my gold is worth?
Two things set the figure: how much actual gold the piece contains and how much it weighs. We read or test the karat to find the purity, weigh the clean gold in troy ounces or pennyweights on a scale you can see, and apply the day’s gold price, which is quoted per troy ounce. We build the offer in front of you and name the karat, the weight and the price we are using, so the number is never hidden.
What if my gold is not stamped with a karat?
That is common, and it is not a problem. A missing stamp does not mean a piece is not gold, and a stamp is not proof that it is. We test the metal itself at the counter using a scratch test with graded acid or an electronic tester, and you watch us do it. The test shows whether the piece is solid gold and roughly what karat it is, and we explain what we find before talking price.
Do you buy broken or scrap gold?
Yes. Snapped chains, single earrings, bent rings, pieces with missing stones and crushed items are all bought by weight, because gold is valued on the metal, not on whether the piece is wearable. A broken chain is worth the same per gram as a whole one. There is no need to repair or clean anything before bringing it in.
What is a troy ounce, and why not a regular ounce?
A troy ounce is the standard unit of weight for precious metals in the trade, and it is about 31.1 grams, heavier than the ounce used for food. Jewelers often weigh in pennyweights instead: there are 20 pennyweights to a troy ounce. If a scale reads in pennyweights, it is using the troy system. We weigh your gold this way because the gold price itself is quoted per troy ounce.
Do you buy gold-plated or gold-filled jewelry?
Gold-plated and gold-filled pieces carry only a very thin layer of gold over a base metal, far too little to buy by weight the way solid gold is bought. We test every piece, so if something is plated rather than solid we will tell you plainly rather than leave you guessing. Solid gold of any karat from 10k to 24k, stamped or not, is what we buy by weight.
Is there any cost or any obligation to sell?
No. The appraisal is free whether you sell or not, and there is no pressure to sell on the spot or to sell the whole lot. Many people sell the scrap and keep a piece or two. You are welcome to get the figure, think it over, and compare it with other buyers before deciding.
Do I need to bring identification?
Yes. New York law requires dealers who buy used jewelry and precious metals to record the seller’s name, residence and a description for each purchase, so we ask for a government-issued photo ID before buying gold. It is a legal requirement that applies to this kind of purchase, not an extra step we have added.
Do you pay cash, and how fast?
Yes. If you accept the offer we pay cash during the same visit, settled on the day, and you leave with your payment rather than a pending claim. The process of being paid is set out in full on our cash for gold page. If you would rather not sell after seeing the offer, that is fine and costs you nothing.
What about gold coins or small bars?
Gold coins and bars are priced differently from jewelry, since many are bought close to their bullion value and some carry collector value on top, so they have their own page. See gold coin buyers for how those are handled. If you have a mix of jewelry and coins, bring it all and we will value each part correctly in one visit.
What happens to my gold after I sell it?
Under New York’s second-hand dealer law, a buyer generally may not sell, melt or refine a purchased item until 15 days after the purchase. That waiting period is a protection built into the law: it gives time to recover items reported stolen and protects honest sellers. It is one of the reasons a licensed, records-keeping buyer is a safer place to sell than an unlicensed one.
Free appraisal
Bring your pieces to the showroom or call first. Nothing is sold until you say yes.