Selling old gold jewellery

Many homes have a drawer with a broken chain, a single earring or a ring nobody wears. That gold can be turned into money, or into something new. This page shows how to read what you have, get it ready, and come away with a fair offer.

Reading the hallmark

Look closely at the inside of a ring or the clasp of a chain. You may see a small row of stamped marks. In the UK, a hallmark is applied by one of four independent assay offices, in Edinburgh, London, Sheffield and Birmingham. The office tests the metal before it marks the piece.

Three marks must always be there. The sponsor's mark shows who sent the piece for hallmarking. The fineness mark shows the metal and its purity. The assay office mark shows where it was tested. A date letter is optional now, though it was compulsory until 1999.

What the numbers tell you

The fineness mark is a number in parts per thousand. A piece marked 375 has at least 375 parts of gold in every thousand. UK hallmarks for gold use 375, 585, 750, 916, 990 and 999.

Jewellery gold is usually mixed with other metals, such as copper or zinc. The more gold a piece holds, the more it is worth. Trading Standards gives the example that 18 carat gold, at 75% gold, fetches more than 9 carat gold, at 37.5%.

Getting your pieces ready

Weigh your gold yourself before you try to sell it. Then you will know roughly what you are offering. If you plan to post it, take photographs first.

Sort the pieces by their fineness mark. Keep anything with stones or an unusual design to one side. A pretty or wanted piece may sell for more second hand or at auction than it would as scrap.

Getting a fair offer

Take your jewellery to more than one buyer and ask each for a valuation. You can also follow the gold price online so you know how it is moving that week. Ask whether any fees or postage costs will come off the offer. Some buyers charge them and some do not.

Pieces with no hallmark

Some genuine gold has no hallmark. Very light pieces are exempt, and for gold the limit is 1 gram. A piece made before 1950 may also be sold as gold without a hallmark, if the seller can show its age and fineness.

You may also see the words "gold plated" or "rolled gold". The law allows the word gold on an unhallmarked piece when a word like that goes with it. Those pieces are not described as solid gold.

Larger sales and tax

Most people selling a few old pieces will not need to think about tax. HMRC says you may have to pay Capital Gains Tax if you make a profit when you sell a personal possession, such as jewellery, for £6,000 or more. If you own the jewellery with someone else, the first £6,000 of your share is exempt.

If something goes wrong

If a buyer misleads you about a price or adds costs you were not told about, you can report them. In England, the Citizens Advice consumer service passes reports on to Trading Standards. You can also find your local Trading Standards office by postcode.

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