For immediate release Gold Traders UK Ltd, a precious metals dealer from Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, named as the 15th Fastest Growing Company on the South of England 2023 Fast Growth 50 index Royal Wootton Bassett, UK — 10th November 2023 — Gold Traders UK, a company based in Wiltshire, has been recognised as the […]

Gold Traders Named as 15th Fastest Growing Company in Southern England in 2023

For immediate release

Gold Traders UK Ltd, a precious metals dealer from Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, named as the 15th Fastest Growing Company on the South of England 2023 Fast Growth 50 index

Royal Wootton Bassett, UK — 10th November 2023 — Gold Traders UK, a company based in Wiltshire, has been recognised as the 15th fastest-growing business in the South of England. This is part of the Fast Growth 50 index for 2023, which identifies the fifty fastest-growing companies across six nations and regions, including the South of England. This achievement underlines Gold Trader’s significant impact on the South of England’s economy and its capacity for growth and innovation.

About the Fast Growth 50

The Fast Growth 50 is an annual index that identifies the top 50 fastest-growing companies in six nations and regions, including the South of England. This year’s index for the South of England has highlighted businesses from multiple sectors that together generated a turnover of just under £1.6 billion, at an average growth rate of 157 percent, with the creation of over 3,153 jobs last year.

Role in the South of England’s Business Scene

Being part of the Fast Growth 50, Gold Traders has shown strong performance and made a positive contribution to the South of England’s business community.

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, Founder Fast Growth 50 said:

“”The UK Fast Growth 50 Index demonstrates that a small number of fast growth firms such as Gold Traders make a substantial contribution to the UK’s economic landscape, providing real examples of how innovation, enterprise and sheer hard work can make a real difference in all sectors from construction to financial services to technology.

Their incredible growth during difficult times shows that through generating wealth and jobs in their local communities, entrepreneurship is the cornerstone of regional and national prosperity. Most important of all, their success stories demonstrate the impact of ambition and adaptability, providing a blueprint for sustainable growth that will hopefully inspire others to follow a similar journey.”

This year’s Fast Growth 50 South of England list is in partnership with UBS, the world’s leading and truly global wealth manager.

Mark Goddard, Head of UK Regions at UBS Global Wealth Management said:

“Business owners and entrepreneurs are the engine of our economy, and UBS has a long history advising and connecting them on each stage of their wealth journey, helping them to unlock their potential. Led by entrepreneurial spirit and often solving some of the UK’s biggest issues, the level of talent and innovation uncovered through this year’s list shows that more needs to be done to support small businesses to strengthen local economies and give back to the local community. As the lead sponsor of this year’s Fast Growth 50, UBS is looking forward to following and supporting these businesses as they go from strength to strength.”

Quote from Founder/Director

“We’re delighted to have been recognised for our growth and commitment to our customers,” says Jon White, Director at Gold Traders. “Gold Traders was founded in early 2008 on a very simple principle – to offer much better rates for unwanted gold than what’s offered by ‘free envelope’ cash for gold companies. The growth we’ve experienced has facilitated our further development and geographical expansion of the group, with a range of exciting projects including the opening of our Bodmin branch coming in 2024. “

Contribution to Growth and Job Creation

During 2020 to 2022, Gold Traders was instrumental in the Fast Growth 50’s collective turnover increase of £977 million. This highlights the company’s role in the South of England’s economic growth, particularly post-COVID-19.

Diverse Range of Businesses

The Fast Growth 50 features companies from various sectors, adding to the diversity of the South of England’s economy. Gold Traders, with its focus in the precious metals industry, is part of this varied business landscape.

What’s Next for Gold Traders

Looking forward, the Gold Traders Group has plans to further expand following the recent development of the Cornwall team, alongside further growth of the Britannia Coin Company which has just moved into new premises in the heart of Royal Wootton Bassett, and the opening of RWB Auctions, The View Gallery and Quercus Bistro. The Gold Traders Group is looking to bring renewed energy to the high street.

For More Information

For media enquiries, please contact:

Freya Webb
Marketing Manager
freya@gold-traders.co.uk

November 10th, 2023 Comments Off Industry News By Phil

Sell Unwanted & Scrap Gold in Bodmin, Cornwall

Gold Traders is delighted to announce the imminent opening of our Bodmin branch. We’re ideally located for anyone in Cornwall to easily sell their unwanted gold, silver, platinum and palladium – for market-leading prices.

Our Bodmin branch will be geared up to handle all types of precious metals sales, including jewellery, coins, bullion and dental scrap. Full x-ray testing will be available, so we can value any non-hallmarked scrap, including platinum thermocouple wire, crucibles and other scientific material.

What makes Gold Traders different to other gold buyers?

Gold Traders has been operating since 2008 and has always strived to be open and transparent when buying precious metals from the public. Unlike many of our competitors, we publish the rates we pay, so you can obtain an up-front estimate as to how much we’ll pay you.

If a gold buyer is unwilling or unable to confirm their rates, it generally means they have something to hide!

Buy With Confidence Scheme

In 2022, Gold Traders became the first precious metals dealer in the country to obtain Trading Standards accreditation through their national ‘Buy With Confidence‘ scheme.

Businesses that undertake to become part of the Buy With Confidence scheme are regularly monitored and checked by Trading Standards to ensure that customers are dealt with in a fair, honest and transparent fashion.

External link: View our Buy With Confidence record.

Gold Traders Bodmin

Located in the former HSBC bank building, you’ll be able to visit us, Monday to Friday.

Our address is:

Gold-Traders (UK) Ltd
3 Fore Street
Bodmin, PL31 2HU

Our telephone number is:

01208 420331

Steve & his team are looking forward to welcoming you. In the meantime, please feel free to give us a call with any questions you may have.

August 8th, 2023 No Comments » Gold, Selling Tips By Phil

What is St. Edwards’s Crown Worth

Charles III will be officially crowned King on the 6th May, 2023, using the Saint Edward’s Crown. Encrusted with 444 precious and semi-precious stones and weighing 2.23kg (4.9lb), many have speculated as to what the monetary value of the crown is. A few publications have attempted to break down the components of the historical relic, which gives a rough figure of £45.4 million, but we’ll do a bit more digging to figure out what it’s really worth.

What is St Edward’s Crown?

Saint Edward’s Crown is widely viewed as the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels and has traditionally been used in coronation ceremonies to crown British Kings and Queens. It’s the symbol most associated with the British Monarchy which can be found in the insignia of many organisations in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. In everyday life, you’ll find it on Elizabeth II’s royal cypher, post boxes, police badges and military insignia to name but a few.

The crown is usually kept safe alongside the other items of royal regalia in the Tower of London, where the public can view it in the confines of an official museum. It measures 12 inches tall and has a circumference of 26 inches, but some of the specifications could vary slightly as it’s reshaped for new monarchs.

In the most recent coronation, the late Queen Elizabeth II wore St Edward’s Crown, but only for a brief moment. She switched to the lighter Imperial State Crown for the rest of the ceremony. Wearing the heavy St Edward’s Crown was a challenge, given its weight and the fact it added a foot to the Queen’s height. The cumbersome crown made simple tasks such as reading off a script quite difficult, as recalled in this quote given by Elizabeth II to Smithsonian Magazine in 2018:

‘You can’t look down to read the speech, you have to take the speech up. Because if you did, your neck would break and it [the crown] would fall off.’

It’s likely Charles III will keep this in mind, and switch to the Imperial State Crown for the remainder of the ceremony to spare his neck!

How Much Is St Edward’s Crown Worth?

To provide an objective figure of value for St Edward’s Crown is possible, but it’s almost certain that its subjective value is many, many times greater. After all, an item is only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. Reader’s Digest has speculated that it’s worth £45.4 million, but we’ll break down the crown by splitting out the materials used to construct it.

Take the gold content. When the metal is isolated, it leaves 2,028.4 grams of 22 carat gold. This is equivalent to 59.7780 troy ounces of pure gold. With a spot price of £1,624 per troy ounce as of 4/5/23, this would give a spot value of £97,079.47. Now, if you happen to find yourself in possession of this Crown Jewel, and you wanted to sell it for its scrap gold content, then we’d pay £89,553.86. That’s over 90% of the spot value, which is one of the best rates for scrap gold in the country. There’s no need to worry if it’s hallmarked or not: we offer the same rate for both, although it would greatly amuse us to find out if it was.

The gemstones and diamonds in St Edwars’s Crown are the main driving force behind the royal regalia’s value, but their exact weight is not known. In total, it features 444 precious and semi-precious stones, including 345 rose-cut aquamarines, 37 white topazes, 27 tourmalines, 12 rubies, 7 amethysts, 6 sapphires, 2 jargoons, 1 garnet, 1 spinel and 1 carbuncle. Combined, it’s likely these stones would fetch a figure of approximately £3.6 million going off guides published by the International Gem Society. Although there no specific diamond or gemstone which stands out in its own right on the crown, the fact that it was placed on it would likely inflate the value of the particular stone immensely. So, this would give a figure of at least £3,689,553.86.

There’s one last, rather unusual way of valuing St Edward’s Crown. Sharp observers will wonder if the crown is insured. One would think this would be a sensible thing to do, but amazingly, it isn’t. According to the London Evening Standard, the reason why no value is given to any item in the Crown Jewels is because they’ve never been considered for sale. But, if you want something insured, then you need to get the item appraised and valued. It’s not clear if the Royal Collections have ever done this. If they have, it might be that the insurers have looked at the St Edward’s Crown and deemed it priceless! A shame, as the Royal Collections seem to have missed out on building a no-claims bonus.

Brief History of St Edward’s Crown

The crown can trace its origins to Edward the Confessor, the patron saint and Anglo-Saxon King which it was named after, with its first documented use in the coronation of King Henry III in 1220. From then, it was used in the coronation of Kings and Queens until the Interregnum. Unfortunately St Edward’s Crown didn’t survive the upheaval of that period, with conventional wisdom pointing toward the Commonwealth Government melting down the crown and striking coins out of it. This has never been confirmed.

A modern replica was made for the coronation of Charles II in 1661, reviving the centuries-old tradition. It didn’t last long though, as there was a 226-year gap between its use for King James II in 1685 and for George V in 1911. Edward VII was the inspiration behind its reintroduction, however he was recovering from an operation at the time of his coronation and opted for the lighter Imperial State Crown instead. Since then, the sight of Saint Edward’s Crown being placed on the monarch’s head by the Archbishop of Canterbury has been an integral part of the coronation ceremony.

Value of the Imperial State Crown

As mentioned before, the Imperial State Crown is lighter than St Edward’s Crown (1.06kg, 2.3lb), but that doesn’t take away from its perceived value. It was first used in its current form in 1937 for King George VI, based on a design used in 1838 for the coronation of Queen Victoria.

Unlike St Edward’s Crown, the Imperial State Crown is composed in gold, silver and platinum and is encrusted with over seven times as many precious and semi-precious stones: 3,174 against 444. Not surprisingly, these diamonds and gemstones are the main reason the Imperial State Crown has its alleged £3-5 billion price tag, according to Tatler. Notable stones encased in it with estimated prices are:

St Edward’s Sapphire, unknown weight
Black Prince’s Ruby, 170 carat
Stuart Sapphire, 104 carat
Cullinan II, 317 carat

Sell Scrap Gold

Are you a relative of Oliver Cromwell and have the original St Edward’s Crown in your possession? We offer excellent rates on unwanted gold, so get in touch with us if you’re looking to sell. You can even use our handy calculator to find out how much your gold is genuinely worth. Don’t worry, we promise not to tell the Royal Family…

May 4th, 2023 No Comments » Miscellaneous By Phil

Simple Palladium Hallmark Guide

In the United Kingdom, hallmarking serves as an official quality control mark of a precious metal’s authenticity, and is now a legal requirement. Although hallmarks have been placed on gold and silver products in England since the 14th century, palladium was not legally required to have hallmarks until the Hallmarking Act was amended in 2009, with the changes coming into effect in 2010. I’ve put together this simple palladium hallmark guide, which I hope you find useful.

A Brief Introduction to Palladium

Palladium is a relative newcomer in terms of metallurgy, only being discovered by British chemist William Hyde Wollaston in 1803. Compare that to gold and silver, which have both been known to man since antiquity, and platinum, which was first mentioned in European literature in 1557.

Most of the supply of palladium goes towards the manufacture of catalytic converters in the automotive industry. This is its main industrial use, and the incredible spikes in the price of the precious metal is the main reason why many motorists have found their catalytic converters have been nicked from their car. Note – we don’t purchase auto-cat material!

Aside from its industrial use, palladium is a useful precious metal to use in jewellery, both on its own and as an excellent bleaching agent to create white gold. In this regard, it holds the advantage over nickel in that it’s strongly hypoallergenic. It’s also used as an investment article, being available in bullion coins and bullion bars, but the market for investment palladium is dwarfed by gold and silver.

Pre-2010 Palladium Hallmarks

Although palladium was not legally required to be hallmarked before 2010, some palladium items were. Standard alloy hallmarks in millesimal fineness were 500, 950 and 999, set inside a trapezium. The traditional fineness symbol for fine palladium is the Greek goddess Athena, who allegedly gained the epithet pallas after she killed him in battle, and is what the precious metal is named after. Athena can still be seen on modern palladium as an optional hallmark.

Pre-2010 palladium hallmarks

The similarities in colour between platinum and palladium caused confusion, which was not helped by the fact that the hallmarks for both metals consisted of shapes with straight lines. Platinum hallmarks are made of a ‘house’ shape as below, which is almost indistinguishable when the two different metals are compared against each other.

UK Palladium Hallmarks from 2010 Onwards

Concerns around the similarity of the fineness hallmarks for platinum and palladium led to an amendment to the Hallmark Act 1973 which brought palladium under the umbrella of official hallmarking requirements. As such, the following hallmarks are compulsory on palladium:

Sponsor’s Mark / Maker’s Mark

This denotes the manufacturer of the palladium jewellery. Each registered mark is unique and can represent an individual or a company. Between 2 and 5 initials can be used inside a surrounding shield shape. It comprises of the initials chosen by that individual or firm inside a surrounding shield shape. The shape of the shield can vary, but most take the form of a rectangle. Below is an example of a sponsor’s mark from the London Assay Office.

London Assay Office

Millesimal Fineness

Palladium millesimal fineness

Millesimal fineness, ie. parts per thousand, was made compulsory on gold, silver and platinum products in 1999. This also includes palladium when it was brought under the legislation in 2010. The shape of the surrounding shield is an indicator of the precious metal. In this case, three round ovals representing palladium surround the three-digit fineness figure, which is either 500, 950 and 999.

–

Assay Office Mark

This stamp tells you which assay office tested and hallmarked the item. Today there are four official assay offices in the United Kingdom: London, Sheffield, Birmingham and Edinburgh. Historically there were 11 assay offices in the British Isles, but by 1965 there were only five: the four UK offices and the Dublin Assay office in the Republic of Ireland. It’s very likely that any palladium jewellery in the UK will have the assay office marks shown below.

Assay Offices

Optional Palladium Hallmarks

Although not compulsory under current legislation, assay offices will occasionally include traditional stamps on their hallmarks, such as the letter stamp (not required since 2010), the fineness symbol (officially replaced by millesimal fineness in 1999) and the international convention mark (common control mark, recognised by the UK in 1972). See the examples above of the optional stamps used on some palladium hallmarks.

So, palladium articles manufactured and sold after 2010 in the UK will have at least three stamps on their hallmark. A common pattern with British hallmarks now is to have the three compulsory stamps plus the traditional fineness symbol and the letter stamp denoting the year. You might also be able to spot a common control stamp, depending if the item was intended to be sold/exported internationally. Commemorative marks also exist, such as Queen Elizabeth II’s numerous jubilee hallmarks and King Charles III’s accession hallmark.

Sell Scrap Palladium UK

Have you got some unwanted palladium items? Gold Traders UK offer some of the best prices in the country for scrap palladium. Coins, rings, bangles, medals, bars, necklaces – you name it, we buy it.

Have a look at our ‘How it Works’ page for more details on the process. Selling your scrap palladium by post or in person at our secure trade counter in Royal Wootton Bassett is straightforward and simple – it could be the easiest cash you’ve ever made!

How much is 14ct gold worth per gram?

14ct gold rings

Having all the necessary information is the key to making a good decision. If you’re looking to sell some of your 14 carat gold items and aren’t aware of the market value of it, then you could be at risk of being taken advantage of. In some cases, unaware members of the public have been offered as little as 20% of the real value of their gold. Read on, and find out how much 14ct gold is per gram.

In this detailed article, I’m going to explain how you can calculate the value of your 14ct gold and how to compare quotes from different companies. This information is vital for you to get the best deal possible. I can tell you now that by not doing this, you could possibly end up being paid between 50% – 60% less for your items.

What is 14ct Gold?

You might already know that the carat (ct) is the traditional unit used to denote the purity of gold alloys. The higher the number, the more ‘pure’ the gold, i.e. the alloy has more gold content and fewer other metals. In the United States, it’s spelt ‘karat’ (k / kt).

The formula used by the gold industry measures carat purity as 24 x the purity by mass. So 14ct gold is 14 parts gold, 10 parts other metal. In percentage terms, that’s 58.33% fine gold. You’ll see on the hallmark for 14ct gold in the UK is generally expressed in millesimal fineness these days. A convention exists in continental Europe to round up the figure to 58.5%, hence the hallmark figure of ‘585’.

The colours 14 carat gold is available in are yellow, rose and white. An alloy of copper will give a more red colour (rose gold), whilst metals such as silver, zinc and palladium will provide a more white colour. An even mix of copper and silver will produce a yellow colour.

How Much Is 14ct Gold Today?

Now you know what your 14ct gold is composed of. The burning question following that is, what’s it worth?

Right now, Gold-Traders is paying £ for 14ct gold. This is the live price, which moves with the market rate, so our quotes are always up-to-date.

If you’d like a comprehensive view of all our scrap gold rates, then have a look at our Scrap Gold Prices page. We encourage you to shop around and find other quotes to compare against. We’re confident that we have some of the best rates in the market for 14ct gold, so if you do come across another firm offering a better rate, then let us know!

‘Free’ Envelope Rip-Off

Now that you have a fair and honest offer for your 14ct gold, the next question is: how are you going to get your precious metal to the buyer? There’s a few options.

Fill in our claim form and post your gold to us. We recommend Royal Mail Special Delivery as it’s insured and tracked. Remember to retain your proof of postage slip.
Visit us at our trade counter in person and sell your gold face-to-face. We welcome walk-ins, with our operating hours between 10:00am and 4:30pm, Monday to Friday. Our address is 143, High Street (Station Road entrance), Royal Wootton Bassett, SN4 7AB, and our telephone number is 01793 230 331.

Contrast this with certain ‘cash-for-gold’ firms, who send you a ‘free’ postage bag or envelope. This is just marketing bluster. Scratch the surface a bit on these companies and you’ll find they don’t advertise their rates (most likely because they’re not as good as ours), their pre-paid mailers don’t provide any additional protection for your items and despite their claims of paying ‘top prices’, the worst players pay over 60% less than us!

How Do You Identify 14-carat Gold?

From the customer’s end, the easiest way to identify 14 carat gold is to check the hallmark. It’ll be labelled as ‘585’, with some older items carrying the label ’14ct’ or just ’14’.

We can accurately test gold in our premises using an XRF (x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy) machine, which leaves no mark on the items.

14ct gold is a popular purity in countries such as Greece and Italy. Customers should be aware there is no official guarantee or hallmarking standard in these countries. In our experience, items marked as 14 carat (14k) from Greece are often slightly less pure due to ‘under carating’ – around the 55% purity mark.

Hardness of 14 Carat Gold

14 carat gold is considered a compromise between 9ct gold, which some view as affordable but undurable, and 18ct gold, which is durable but more expensive. A common myth is that the higher the carat, the softer the gold is – this isn’t true!

There’s actually a measurement for metal hardness called the Vickers scale, and 14ct cast gold is in the 100 – 165 HV scale, depending on the other metals used. This is harder than both 9ct gold and 18ct gold in cast form, but note that the maximum annealed hardness of 14ct gold is lower than 18ct gold.

14ct Gold Jewellery

14ct gold is sometimes used for men’s rings, as the higher carats such as 22ct and 24ct, while more valuable, are considered too soft and less able to withstand prolonged wear. It’s a popular purity in countries such as Greece and Italy. Customers should be aware that there is no official guarantee or hallmarking standard in these countries. In our experience, items marked as 14ct from Greece are often of slightly lesser purity – around the 55% purity mark.

Selling with Gold-Traders UK

If you weigh your scrap 14ct gold you can then use our online calculator to get an accurate quote. Look at our page about how to weigh your scrap gold, but don’t worry if your own scales aren’t that accurate – we will use our calibrated and Trading Standards-approved scales to determine the exact weight and make sure you get an exceptional offer for it.