What is a Pennyweight?
A gold buyer quoted you a price in pennyweight? What is a pennyweight, and why did they quote you a price for your gold jewelry in pennyweight? Is this a good deal or not?
The old English system of Pennyweight (aka DWT or diamond weight) is based on the weight of an old English penny. There are only 20 pennyweights in a troy ounce of gold. There are 31.1 grams in an troy ounce of gold. 0.643 pennyweight is equal to 1 gram. One pennyweight is less than one gram of gold. By quoting a price in pennyweight a buyer can make you think you’re getting a good price for your precious metals when you’re not.
Dishonest buyers use Pennyweight as a trick to attempt to scam you. Many scrap gold buyers use pennyweight. There are legitimate gold buyers who uses pennyweight and pay fair prices, but there are also scammers who use the old English penny system to fool you.
Honest gold buyers weigh your gold in front of you, and let you see the readings. Dishonest buyers won’t want you to see the scale readings, so who knows what your gold really weighs.
Dishonest buyers may quote you one price over the phone and another once you are ready to sell. That’s the old bait and switch. Some will try to say your gold’s karat is much lower than it is.
| GRAMS | PENNYWEIGHTS | 10K Gold $10.00 to $13.00 | 10K Gold $15.50 to $20.15 | 14K Gold $16.00 to $20.00 | 14K Gold $24.80 to $31.00 | 18K Gold $22.00 to $26.00 | 18K Gold $34.10 to $40.30 |
The prices above are based on a spot price of $1520.00 per ounce.
NOTE: Many Scrap Gold scammers pay as low as $15.00 a pennyweight for 14K (this equals just $9.64 per gram)!
Sometimes gold is marked one or two karats higher than it really is. Gold manufactures use this trick of putting less gold in to increase their retail profits. This is why all gold buyers test your gold prior to buying it. Honest buyers will let you see the gold test. Gold marked 14K will test as 14k most of the time.
Honest Gold Guys will always weigh and test your gold as you watch. Dishonest buyers may want to test and weigh your items out of sight. If at any time you feel like something isn’t right, or like the buyer is shady, you should collect your gold and leave.
To recap:
Most Honest Gold Buyers do not use pennyweight.
Most Honest Gold Buyers let you watch your gold being weighed.
Honest Gold Buyers happily let you watch your gold being tested.
Honest Gold Buyers won’t use bait and switch tactics.
As a customer you shouldn’t sell if something seems fishy.
Hopefully this article has answered the question "What is a pennyweight?" and shed some light on the common schemes, and scams of dishonest gold buyers.
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Honest Gold Guy Spokane Valley
We are located on the south east corner of Progress and Sprague next to the Post Office between the Barber Shop and the Key Shop.
15116 E Sprague Ave
Spokane Valley, WA 99037
Phone (509) 720-1122
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Page updated 5/13/2022