To begin, what is a karat? The karat is the unit of measurement that is used to describe the amount of gold that is within an alloy. 24 karat gold is made up of 99.9 percent gold, whereas 18 karat gold is only 75 percent. The 24k gold price will always be higher than 18k due to the percentage of gold that it contains.
There are a few different colors of gold.
Rose gold is also normally made with 18 karat gold so in terms of value you will notice that yellow gold is the most expensive, followed by white gold and rose gold brings up the rear.
- Yellow gold generally has a higher karat number and contains gold only.
- White gold may contain silver, platinum or palladium. As a general rule it is also plated in rhodium.
- Rose gold is the third choice available and it is created when gold and copper are combined, to give it a rose-colored hue.
Gold prices are important because there are people who invest in gold bullion. Gold bullion is a term which describes the product that is left when gold has been refined and then converted from a scrap product to one that can be traded. Gold historically has held its value well so it is in demand as a product that can be bought and sold. The 24k gold price becomes important here also as you will receive a better return for this gold scrap than you will for the 18k. However, bear in mind that whoever buys the product to scrap it will not pay market value as they will deduct a percentage to cover the cost of the work, they need to put in to melt the gold down.
If you are interested in learning more about the current market and the price of bullion then eBay is a great website to watch. You can keep track of auctions that are currently occurring for bullion bars and see how much they are selling for.
Gold karat, what does it mean?
The 24-karat gold price will always be higher than that of the 18 karats because of the higher percentage of the valuable metal that it contains. Gold prices are calculated on the metal’s purity so if the item is going to be melted down for reuse, 24 karats will have a higher purity component than 18 karats.
Occasionally, however, the 24k gold price is less than the 18k. This is because the 18-karat gold has been mixed with platinum. Platinum is worth four times the cost of gold so anything that it is combined with will automatically increase in value. There are times when 18 karat gold is also used in artistic pieces. In these circumstances it will be worth more than 24 karat gold as the integrity and value of the piece is based more than on just the raw materials used alone.
If you want to find out the current 24k gold price there are a number of options open to you. The closest source of information will be a local pawn store, coin shop of jewelry shop. The owners of these establishments will know the current rate per ounce and will be able to provide this information to you. Next, divide the karat of the product by the purest karat currently marketable which is 24. Once you have that result you can multiply that number by the price per ounce. As an example, if you own an 18-karat necklace that weights 1 ounce and the price per ounce is currently $30 you would divide 18k by 24 and then multiply that answer by 30. This gives you the price per ounce of that 18-karat necklace which is $22.50.