Gold vs Silver vs Platinum Scrap Value Compared
Three precious metals, three very different scrap economics. Weight alone tells you almost nothing.
People often assume a heavy piece of jewelry is a valuable piece of jewelry. With precious metals that instinct is unreliable, because gold, silver, and platinum trade at dramatically different prices and are alloyed to different purities. A chunky silver bracelet can be worth less than a slim gold chain a fraction of its weight. This guide compares how scrap value works across the three metals so you can size up a piece before you ever put it on a scale.
The spot price gap is enormous
The first thing to internalize is how far apart these metals trade. As a rough illustration, at the reference prices used across this site — gold around $4,686 per troy ounce, silver around $32, and platinum around $985 — gold is well over a hundred times the price of silver by weight, and roughly five times the price of platinum. That single fact dominates scrap value more than anything else. A gram of pure gold is simply worth vastly more than a gram of pure silver.
Prices move, and the ratios shift with them — see our live prices dashboard for current figures and the gold-to-silver ratio — but the order of magnitude rarely changes: gold on top, platinum in the middle, silver far below.
Purity standards differ too
Each metal has its own typical purities, which further changes how much pure metal a piece actually contains:
- Gold — jewelry runs 9K to 24K (37.5% to 99.9%). Most Western jewelry is 14K or 18K.
- Silver — the dominant standard is sterling, stamped 925 (92.5% pure). Fine silver (999) exists mainly in bullion.
- Platinum — jewelry is usually very high purity, commonly stamped 950 (95%) or 900 (90%), higher than most gold jewelry.
So platinum jewelry is typically purer than gold jewelry, but because platinum's spot price is far below gold's, that higher purity does not close the value gap.
Payout percentages vary by metal
Buyers apply different payout percentages to different metals, largely because of refining economics and demand:
- Gold is the most liquid scrap metal; payouts commonly run 70–90% of melt, higher for bulk.
- Silver often sees lower payout percentages in percentage terms and sometimes minimum-weight requirements, because the value per gram is so low that handling costs eat a bigger share. Small quantities of silver may be barely worth a buyer's time.
- Platinum is refined by fewer buyers, so offers can be less competitive and more variable; a specialist will pay well, a generalist may lowball or decline.
The lesson: value = weight × purity × spot price × payout%. Three of those four terms differ sharply between metals, so comparing pieces by weight alone is meaningless. Always run the full calculation.
Worked comparison
Suppose you have three pieces, each weighing 20 grams, at the reference prices above.
- 20 g of 14K gold (58.3% pure): 20 × 0.583 × ($4,686 ÷ 31.1035) = 20 × 0.583 × $150.66 = $1,757 melt
- 20 g of sterling silver (92.5% pure): 20 × 0.925 × ($32 ÷ 31.1035) = 20 × 0.925 × $1.029 = $19 melt
- 20 g of 950 platinum (95% pure): 20 × 0.95 × ($985 ÷ 31.1035) = 20 × 0.95 × $31.67 = $602 melt
Identical weight, radically different value. The gold piece is worth roughly 90 times the silver piece and nearly three times the platinum piece — despite the silver and platinum being purer. This is why an experienced buyer barely glances at the size of a piece and goes straight for the metal type and hallmark.
Practical implications when selling
Gold is almost always worth selling, even small amounts, because value per gram is high. Silver is worth selling in quantity — a single sterling ring may net only a few dollars, but a box of flatware or a stack of coins adds up. Check whether a buyer has a minimum. Platinum is valuable but needs the right buyer; seek out a dealer who explicitly handles platinum and get more than one quote, because the spread between a specialist and a generalist can be wide.
Don't confuse the white metals
White gold, silver, and platinum can look similar, but their scrap values are worlds apart. White gold is still gold (usually 14K or 18K) alloyed and often rhodium-plated to look whiter — worth gold prices. Platinum is denser and heavier than it looks and carries its own hallmark (950, PLAT, PT). Silver is the lightest and cheapest of the three. Always find the hallmark before assuming which metal you are holding — our guide to reading hallmarks covers the stamps for each. Then use the calculator to price it properly.