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You can calculate the value of your platinum and silver jewellery items using the same method gold dealers do, you just need to know the differences in purity.


Know the purity

Unlike gold, platinum and silver have fewer levels of purity typically used for jewellery. The purity levels can vary from country to country but we will refer to the ones used most in Australia.

Platinum can be used as 850, 900, or 950 parts per thousand. In Australia, platinum is typically used at 950 or above.

850 = 85% pure platinum.

900 = 90% pure platinum

950 = 95% pure platinum.

Weigh the platinum

Platinum is weighed  is sold and weighed in troy ounces just like gold.  Jewellers and gold buyers use two different calculations, pennyweights (DWT) and grams (G) The value of your gold will be exactly the same regardless of what weighing method is used.  Pennyweights (dwt): there are 20 pennyweights in one troy ounce.
Grams (g): there are 31.1 grams in one troy ounce.
Grams to pennyweight conversion: 1.555 grams per pennyweight.

Spot Price of Platinum

The spot price of platinum is the price it is selling for at any given time. Since the spot price is changing constantly you will need to know the current spot price of platinum to determine the value of your scrap platinum. For the example below we will assume the platinum price is $1400.00 AUD per troy ounce.

Calculate the Value of 950 platinum

We will use 950 platinum as our example on how to calculate actual gold content and its value. We have assumed the price of platinum per troy ounce is $1400 AUD.

a.  Your 950 platinum ring weighs 4.3 grams which is 2.76 pennyweights (dwt).
b. 2.76 dwt x .950% = 2.622 pennyweight pure platinum.
c. Spot gold price of $1400.00 / 20 pennyweight per oz. = $70.00 per pennyweight.
d. 2.622 dwt x $70.00 = $183.54 (the actual pure platinum content value of the chain).

So, we have a scrap platinum that weighs 4.3 grams which is 2.76 pennyweights. It is 950 so there is 95% pure platinum in the chain. We took 2.76 pennyweights and multiplied it by .950% to get the weight of the pure platinum. That equates to 2.622 pennyweights of pure platinum. There are 20 pennyweights in one troy ounce. Spot platinum is selling for $1400.00 per troy ounce. We divided $1400.00 by 20 to get a pure gold value of $70.00 per pennyweight. We then multiplied 2.622 pennyweights of pure gold times $70.00 per pennyweight and we get $187.88. Remember to use the correct currency when calculating the value of your platinum as many online spot prices are in USD. 


Silver Purity

Silver is typically used in 925 parts per thousand, called Sterling Silver. There are other silver purities like Brittania (9584), Coin (900) and Fine (999)

925 = 92.5% pure silver.

Spot Price of Silver

Use the same methods as gold and silver to calculate the silver content price. Lets assume the price of silver per troy ounce is $24.57 AUD.

a. Your Sterling Silver bangle weights 10.5 grams which is 6.75 pennyweights. It is Sterling Silver so there is 92.5% pure silver in the bangle.
b. We took 6.75 pennyweights and multiplied it by 0/925% to get the weight of the pure silver. This equates to 6.24 pennyweights of pure silver.
c. There are 20 pennyweights in one troy ounce. Spot silver is selling for $24.57 per troy ounce. We divide $24.57 by 20 to get a pure silver value of $1.23 per pennyweight.
d. We then multiplied 6.24 pennyweights of pure gold by $1.23 and we get $7.67.

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