At an eye-watering £100,000.00, the kilo gold coin is priced at around 3 times its intrinsic gold value. The silver version is priced at £3,000.00, nearly 4 times its silver value.

Designed by Sir Anthony Caro, the gold coin has an issue limit of 60. The silver version is limited to 2,012 pieces and has been designed by Tom Phillips.

One could argue that the uniqueness and collectability of these coins justify the high price tag, however anyone purchasing for investment purposes should take note that the world’s largest gold coin, a 1 Million Dollar Canadian Maple Leaf sold for just it’s scrap value back in June 2010.

Interestingly, The Royal Mint produced a 1 kilo gold coin in 2011 to commemorate the Royal Wedding. Minted for the island of Alderney, this coins had a bargain-basement price of just £40,000.00!

Link: Royal Mint reveal 1 kilo coins

Seller beware! The price quoted on the British Gold Refinery calculator is NOT the price you will be paid!

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has taken action against Cash for Gold company Weston Knightly, trading as The British Gold Refinery, for misleading advertising.

The adjudication, published on the ASA website refers to website content and online advertising, published between May and July 2011.

Three complainants challenged that their advertising was misleading because customers were not clearly advised they would have to pay an administration fee if they wanted their gold returned.

The ASA observed that if an offer is rejected, the customer will be liable to an administration fee of £35 + VAT before items are returned and that this should be prominently displayed, rather than hiding it within their Terms and Conditions.

They also upheld a complaint regarding an unsubstantiated advert, stating “We pay 70% more”.

ASA Adjudication: Weston Knightly t/a British Gold Refinery

If this gold cigarette case had sold at auction for the top-end estimate, the seller would have been approx. £794 worse off compared to the amount we paid.

If you have high value item and have decided to sell it, you’ll be looking at what options are available to you. One consideration is to sell it at auction.

Just to make things clear, I’m not referring to online auctions in this article. Online actions introduce a whole range of additional issues, which may get discussed in anther post. This post looks at the merits of selling gold, platinum or silver via a any reputable bricks and mortar auction house.

Sellers Fees

Auction houses make their money charging a buyer’s premium and a seller’s fee. As the name suggests, the sellers fee is payable by the seller. The amount payable is based on the final sale value of the item, calculated a percentage, usually around 20 – 25%. The auction fees also attract VAT at 20%.

The buyer’s premium is added to the final auction price and is paid over to the auction house by the buyer. For the purposes of this example, we don’t need to account for it.

Here are a couple of recent examples to illustrate our point.

Last week, we purchased this 18ct gold basket weave cigarette case. It’s mid 20th century, French with a cabochon sapphire button release. After purchasing it, we had it professionally valued by a specialist dealer who has many years experience and has worked for some of the top auction houses around the world.

His appraisal, “With the current high price of precious metals on the commodity markets, the value will be almost if not entirely based on its weight.”

Auctioneers valuation: £3,500
Sellers fee + VAT: £840
Estimated payout to customer: £2,660

Amount paid by Gold-Traders: £3,454.33

So, assuming the case had sold at the top estimate and the auctioneer charged just 20% sellers fee, the seller would have been over £794 worse off at auction.

This gold rose bown was sold to us after the seller calculated they would receive less money at auction.

The above example is by no means uncommon. This solid 9ct rose bowl was purchased by us after the customer calculated they would be significantly worse off by selling at auction.

This doesn’t just apply to gold items. With the current high prices for silver and platinum, we’re also receiving many more large items, such as silver tea sets, cutlery and platinum watches.

If you’re thinking of selling an item at auction, why not give us a call for a no-obligation valuation? We can usually provide a valuation over the telephone and we have no hidden fees or charges at all. The rates we quote are the rates we pay.

An 18ct rose gold fob chain

18ct gold is an alloy (a mix) of gold and other metals, typically copper, silver and / or zinc. For an item of jewellery to be hallmarked 18ct gold, it must contain a minimum of 75% gold.

The colour of 18ct gold depends on the mix of the other metal added. For example, 18ct yellow gold can consist of 75% gold, 13% silver and 12% copper. 18ct white gold will contain more silver or zinc and less copper, whereas rose gold will contain more copper and less silver. As the value of scrap gold is based on the gold content, 18ct yellow gold is worth the same amount as white or rose gold.

The scrap value of 18ct gold

Gold-Traders is currently paying £ for 18ct.

When comparing our rate with your high street jeweller, you should note the following points:

• Once you’ve filled out our claim form, our rates are guaranteed for three days. We won’t pay you anything less per gram for your gold.
• We don’t differentiate between hallmarked and non-hallmarked gold, our rates are the same.
• We have no hidden fees or charges. The rates we quote are the rates we pay.

Review a full breakdown of our scrap gold prices.

To receive a quotation from us, please use the calculator function in the right-hand column of this page.

A 22ct gold bangle with a BIS hallmark

Unlike British hallmarking (which is mandatory for all items of gold jewellery weighting more than 1g), gold jewellery made in India does not have to be hallmarked or assayed. For the consumer, there is therefore no guarantee that an item purchased contains the correct quantity of gold, or in-fact is gold at all!

Occasionally, we’ll receive an item bought in Asia in good faith, seemingly stamped as being gold, but being fake.

It is common to see Indian (and Asian) jewellery marked as ‘22kt’, but when tested may only be between 87% to 88% pure, the equivalent of 21ct gold. This could be down to the quantity of solder used in intricate items (solder is often of a lower purity) or the jeweller simply using slightly less gold to increase their margin.

To introduce more certainty within the Indian gold industry, the Bureau of Indian Standards introduced a voluntary BIS hallmarking scheme in 2000. For the consumer, an item of jewellery with the BIS mark can be relied on to contain the correct amount of gold.

Like a British hallmark, the BIS mark is made-up of a series of elements:

• the official BIS logo
• the purity / fineness of the item
• the assaying & hallmarking centre’s mark
• the date letter, indicating the year of marking
• the jewellers identification mark

The BIS logo

Bureau of Indian Standards mark

This is the official BIS logo. Jewellers who want to use the BIS mark must obtain a licence and adhere to strict guidlines relating to the purity of marked items.

Purity / Fineness

The BIS recognise the following gold purities:

• 375 : 9 carat
• 585 : 14 carat
• 750 : 18 carat
• 875 : 21 carat
• 916 : 22 carat
• 958 : 23 carat

Assaying & Hallmarking Centre’s Mark

This mark identifies where the item of jewellery has been assayed and hallmarked.

Date Letter

The date letter shows the year the item was hallmarked. Starting in 2000 with the letter ‘A’ and moving up one letter each year, it is easy to work out the correct date. In our example photo above, the date letter ‘L’ tells us the bangle was assayed in 2011.

Jewellers Mark

This mark identifies the BIS certified jeweller / manufacturer of the item.

Related article: Bureau of Indian Standards hallmarking

The bigger the glitz, the less you get

You may be tempted by the cash for gold companies that advertise a lot on TV or in the press, sometimes endorsed by celebrities. But all that advertising doesn’t come cheap. These companies fund it by making sure they have substantial profit margins. And they achieve that, by paying their customers less for their gold.

The same applies for companies with high street branches. They’ll make sure they’ve covered all their rent, rates, etc before parting with cash for your gold.

Cash for gold websites

You’re better off looking on the internet. But if you’re going to get the best possible return for your gold, it pays to be selective.

Never trust a company that doesn’t quote its true cash for gold prices on its website. They don’t, simply because their prices are poor. Although they may claim ‘top prices’ or ‘best prices’, those promises aren’t delivered.

Calculated to deceive

Some cash for gold companies appear more transparent, because they have calculators on their websites. Whilst the online ‘valuation’ may appear attractive, this won’t necessarily be the price you’ll be offered. With careful wording, you’re led to believe the price quoted is what you’ll get, in reality, it can be substantially lower.

Did you know, the price you receive from some companies can be as little as 20% of your gold’s real value?

Hidden fees

That’s not just down to poor rates, but also because of fees that many cash for gold companies bury in their small print. Typical examples are charging return postage if you don’t accept their offer, extra charges if you want payment by cheque, and fees for returning items that turn out not be gold. Some even charge their customers the refining fee for melting down the gold!

The golden rules

Faced with all this devious dealing, you might wonder if you’ll inevitably be ripped off when you want cash for gold. The answer, fortunately, is no. It takes a little detective work, but you’ll get genuinely the best price if you:

• Look for a company that doesn’t spend fortunes on advertising.
• Stick to companies that do business on the web.
• Only use a company with an online calculator that shows you the genuine price you’ll be paid.

A reputable company will always pay you at least 90% of what your gold is really worth.

We hope our cash for gold article has been of use. We have a handy tool to calculate the real value of your gold and we’re always happy to answer your questions via email or telephone.

Cats4Gold.com promises the best pawsible rates for your unwanted gold and pawsitively guarantee a fur exchange.

To highlight the underhand scams that occur in the ‘cash for gold’ marketplace, Gold-Traders has launched its Cats4Gold.com spoof website, which has “pussies galore” and is ready to swap them for people’s gold!

Cats4Gold.com is based on the idea that “if you send your gold to a company that doesn’t quote their prices up-front or has lots of hidden ’small print’, you might as well get the weight of your gold in cats…” Furthermore, in these austere times, gold isn’t as alluring as something that’s purring: bling really isn’t this season’s thing.

For some time, Gold-Traders (UK) has been spreading the word that the public can expect short shrift from scrap gold buyers who don’t publish the prices they pay per ounce or gram. In many cases, sellers could be receiving as little as 20% of their gold’s true market value. And, with the recession causing something of a ‘gold rush’ as people cash in on trinkets and jewellery, the grim reality of such a cat-astrophically wide rip-off is sure to give ‘paws for thought’.

No cats were harmed, mildly disturbed or even woken from their naps during the making of the Cats4Gold.com website.

You can read our full press release here:
Cats4Gold.com Gives More Moggy than Lolly to the Ounce

Well, it appears our suspicion was correct. We’ve just had confirmation from a customer who sent their 21ct wedding jewellery to Tesco’s for valuation and were offered a sum based on their 18ct rates.

Based on today’s prices, a customer sending 21ct gold to Tesco would be paid just 65.2% of its true value.

That’s a very poor deal!

A typical platinum hallmark

All platinum items weighing more than 0.5 grams must now carry a valid hallmark when sold in the UK. The photo on the right shows a typical hallmark. A platinum hallmark will consist of 3 compulsory and 3 optional stamps.

The three compulsory platinum marks

Sponsor Mark

Also referred to as the makers mark, the first stamp in the photo indicates who submitted the item for hallmarking. Each sponsor (maker) has their own unique stamp.

Fineness Mark

The third stamp in our example photo is the fineness mark. This tells you the precious metal content, expressed in parts per thousand. There are four recognised standards of platinum:

• 850 (85% pure)
• 900 (90% pure)
• 950 (95% pure)
• 999 (99.9% pure)

When identifying an item as being platinum, it’s important to check the shape and contents of the fineness mark. If the shape is anything other than what is shown below, it isn’t platinum. As you can see, our ring is 950 platinum.

Platinum fineness

Assay Office Mark

The assay office mark tells you which assay office tested and hallmarked your item. There are now four assay offices in the UK:

Assay offices

 Optional platinum hallmarks

The following 3 marks are all optional. Under hallmarking legislation, there is no compulsorary requirement to show these additional marks, however they are often shown.

Traditional Fineness Symbol

If your platinum item has a purity of 950 or 999, it may display the traditional orb mark. In our example photograph, you can see the second stamp is the traditional fineness symbol.

Orb

Date Letter

Date letters are optional and therefore not always seen (as in our example photograph). The date letter tells us the year the item was hallmarked. As date letters were standardised across all assay offices from 1975, it’s quite easy to read. Below is a chart of all date letters from 1975 onwards.

Standardised UK hallmark date letters from 1975 onwards

International Convention Mark

An International Convention Mark is sometimes shown within the hallmark. It is a mark recognised by all member countries of the International Hallmarking Convention.

Convention mark

Testing platinum

Without a valid hallmark, most jewellers and small scale gold buyers will not be able to accurately test the purity of platinum jewellery. Due to its inherent inertness, traditional ‘acid’ testing can only help determine if an item isn’t platinum, however you can’t for example differentiate 900 and 999 platinum.

High-end and specialist precious metal dealers use XRF (X-ray fluorescence) testing to accurately identify the platinum content of jewellery. Inductively coupled plasma, optical emission spectrometry is used by assay offices during the hallmarking process.

Platinum thermocouple wire

Used in laboratories and in scientific instruments, platinum thermocouple wire is often used for measuring temperatures in-excess of 2000°C.

Due to its high value, thermocouple wire should always be recycled. You can sell your platinum thermocouples to Gold-Traders and receive payment on the day we receive your package.

You can check our scrap platinum prices, which are always up-to-date. The rates we display are the minimum prices per gram that we will pay you. If platinum prices drop once you’ve sent your thermocouple wire, we’ll pay you our original quoted rates (providing we receive it within three days of quotation). If our platinum prices increase, we’ll automatically pay you the higher rate.

To proceed, please fill out our claim form and follow our simple instructions in relation to postage and packing.