Gold Coin Melt Value Calculator

How coin melt is calculated

A gold coin has two weights, and only one of them is gold. Gross weight is what the coin weighs on a scale, alloy included. Actual gold weight, written AGW, is the pure gold inside that gross weight. This calculator multiplies the published AGW by the quantity and by the gold price per troy ounce. It does not weigh the coin, and it does not multiply gross weight by the fineness a second time. The AGW already is the pure-gold figure. A one-ounce American Gold Eagle and a one-ounce Maple Leaf therefore share the same melt when the price is the same, even though the Eagle is the heavier object.

The figures below are the published specifications for ordinary issues. Each row is marked for a human check against the source named in the table. A pattern, a proof with a different planchet, or a coin that has been holed, mounted, or heavily worn can contain less gold than the catalog AGW. Melt on this page is the gold content of an intact coin of that type. It is not a grade, and it is not what a shop will write on a check.

American Gold Eagle and American Gold Buffalo

The United States Mint’s bullion-coin page lists the American Eagle gold coins as 91.67 percent gold, in four stated fine-gold sizes: 1, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/10 troy ounce. The same page lists a heavier gross weight for each size, because the rest of the coin is silver and copper. That alloy is why a one-ounce Eagle weighs about 1.0909 troy ounces on a scale and still contains one troy ounce of gold. The calculator uses 1.0000, 0.5000, 0.2500 and 0.1000 troy ounces. The face values, $50, $25, $10 and $5, are legal-tender marks. They are not the melt.

The American Buffalo, on that same Mint page, is 99.99 percent gold and weighs 1.0000 troy ounce. Its AGW and its gross weight are the same figure for practical purposes. A Buffalo and a one-ounce Eagle match on melt and differ on the alloy. Proof and burnished issues of either coin can sell for more than the bullion piece. This page still prices only the gold.

Maple Leaf, Krugerrand, and Sovereign

The one-ounce Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is a Royal Canadian Mint coin of .9999 fineness with one troy ounce of gold. Like the Buffalo, the gold content and the stated size are the same ounce. Smaller Maple Leafs exist. This list includes the one-ounce coin, which is the piece the name usually means.

The one-ounce South African Krugerrand is a 22-carat coin, 91.67 percent gold, with one troy ounce of fine gold. The copper in the alloy makes the gross weight higher than one ounce, the same idea as the Eagle. The South African Mint’s specification is the source for that row. Fractional Krugerrands are a different product and are not in the dropdown.

A British Sovereign is not a one-ounce coin. The Royal Mint publishes a pure-metal content of 0.2354 troy ounce and a fineness of 0.9167 for its bullion sovereign. One sovereign is a little under a quarter ounce of pure gold. Quantity is how you price a stack: ten sovereigns are 2.354 troy ounces of gold at the price on the calculator. A half sovereign is a different coin and is not this row.

Pre-1933 US $20, $10, $5 and $2.50

The regular US gold coins struck from the Coinage Act standard of 1837, with the double eagle added in 1849, are 900 fine. The pure gold is a grain weight: 464.4 grains in a $20 double eagle, 232.2 in a $10 eagle, 116.1 in a $5 half eagle, and 58.05 in a $2.50 quarter eagle. One troy ounce is 480 grains, so those become 0.9675, 0.48375, 0.241875 and 0.1209375 troy ounces. A Guide Book of United States Coins, the Red Book, is the numismatic reference for those AGWs, and major dealers reprint the same four numbers. They describe the ordinary issues. They do not describe every pattern or every later restrike.

A double eagle is close to an ounce and is not an ounce. Using 1.0000 instead of 0.9675 overstates the gold by about a third of a gram on every coin. The calculator keeps the smaller figure. The $10, $5 and $2.50 pieces are halves, quarters and eighths of that double-eagle gold, which is why the AGWs line up so neatly.

Quantity is a count of coins of that one type. Three one-ounce Eagles are 3.0000 troy ounces of pure gold. Three sovereigns are 0.7062 troy ounces. Mixing types means running the dropdown once per type and adding the melts yourself, because one row cannot be an Eagle and a sovereign at the same time. The gold price is the same live quote used on the other calculators, per troy ounce, and a typed price is labelled Custom until you reset it. The fineness is shown so you can see the alloy. It is already baked into the AGW, so the dollar line does not multiply by 0.9167 a second time.

Collector value, and what a dealer pays

Melt is a floor for a common, problem-free coin only in the sense that the metal is worth that much to a refiner. A scarce date, a high grade, or a popular proof can be worth more than melt, sometimes many times more. This calculator does not know the date or the grade, so it cannot see that premium. If the coin might be a better date, check a price guide before you treat melt as the value.

A dealer who buys for inventory pays less than melt on common bullion more often than not, because the shop still has to sell the coin or send it to a refiner. The gap is the dealer’s margin, shipping, and the risk that the coin is underweight. This page does not guess that percent. The result is the gold content at the spot price shown. It is an estimate of melt value, not an offer.