Prices

All amounts shown are indicative metal values, not dealer offers. Use the original hallmark and net metal weight when calculating jewellery. For bullion, compare the full purchase price, selling price and any fees rather than spot alone.

A price timestamp matters as much as the amount. Prices can remain unchanged when the market is closed, and cached quotes can be older during a data interruption. Historical charts are reference series, not a promise about future returns.

Read our price methodology and limitations

Gold is traded and valued according to its fineness — the proportion of the alloy that is pure gold. In Denmark, fineness is commonly expressed in parts per thousand (‰) alongside karats, where 24 karat corresponds to 999-1000‰ fine gold. An item of 18 karat gold contains 18/24 parts pure gold, equal to 750‰. Likewise, nominal 14 karat gold is 14/24 parts, or 583.33‰; a 585 stamp instead specifies 58.5% gold, and 8 karat gold is 8/24 parts, around 333‰. Denmark's precious metals control authority requires items marketed as genuine gold to contain at least 333‰ gold and to carry both a fineness mark and a maker's mark, unless the item weighs under 1 gram, in which case stamping may be exempt though the item remains subject to inspection.

It is essential to distinguish between the pure gold content and the gross weight of an item, because pricing at purchase or sale is typically based on the actual gold content rather than total weight. For example, if a gold ring weighs 10 grams and is stamped 750, its pure gold content is 7.5 grams (10 grams × 0.750). This calculation method underlies any valuation of scrap or investment gold, and the same logic applies whether the item is a coin, a bar, or jewellery. Without a correct stamp or documented fineness, an acid test or XRF measurement by a professional may be needed to establish the true fineness before a reliable price can be set.

Many consumers find the difference between karats and per-mille fineness confusing, particularly because rounding can create minor discrepancies. For instance, 18 karat corresponds mathematically to exactly 750.0‰, while 14 karat yields 583.33‰, which in practice is often stamped as 585 for historical and industry reasons. This rounding has a small effect on calculated gold value, but for larger quantities or professional trading, even minor fineness differences can add up to noticeable amounts. It is therefore advisable to always use the stamped or documented fineness rather than an assumed standard value when performing your own calculations.

The gold price is set globally in US dollars per troy ounce, where one troy ounce equals 31.1035 grams. To convert this to a price per gram in Danish kroner, you need both the dollar price of gold and the USD/DKK exchange rate at the given moment. The formula is: price per gram in DKK = (spot price in USD per ounce ÷ 31.1035) × USD/DKK rate. Because both the gold price and the exchange rate fluctuate continuously during international market hours, the price shown on a website or app is typically a momentary value that can change within minutes or hours.

An illustrative, purely hypothetical example: assume a spot price of 2,300 USD per ounce and an exchange rate of 7.00 DKK per USD. The price per gram of fine gold would then be (2,300 ÷ 31.1035) × 7.00, giving roughly 517 DKK per gram. This figure is solely a calculation example to illustrate the method and must not be interpreted as a current or expected gold price. Consumers should always obtain the actual, up-to-date spot price and exchange rate from a reliable source before performing calculations on their own items or investments.

When converting the spot price into a concrete trading price for a specific item, you must also account for the item's actual fineness and weight, as well as any additions or deductions applied by the dealer. A simple calculation model could look like this: item price = (grams × fineness as a decimal) × price per gram of fine gold, adjusted for the dealer's buy or sell margin. It is this final adjustment — the spread between buy and sell price — that often has the greatest practical impact for the individual consumer, regardless of how precisely the spot price is calculated.

When trading gold with a dealer, you will typically encounter two different prices: the price the dealer is willing to pay if you sell (bid), and the price you must pay if you buy (ask). The difference between these two prices is called the spread, and it covers the dealer's operating costs, inventory holding, insurance, exposure to price fluctuations, and a margin of profit. The spread is not fixed by law and varies considerably between dealers, product types, and market conditions, so it cannot be stated as a universal percentage.

For investment gold in the form of bars and coins with high fineness, the spread is typically smaller in relative terms than for jewellery, because bars and coins are standardised and easier to resell. For jewellery and other worked items, the spread is often larger, as the dealer must account for melting down, possible removal of non-metallic parts such as gemstones, and administrative handling. It is therefore common to see a considerably lower offer when selling a used gold item than the price it would cost to buy an equivalent amount of gold as a new bar or coin.

A hypothetical example for illustration: if the spot price for fine gold is calculated at 517 DKK per gram, a dealer might offer 480 DKK per gram when buying a bar (bid) while simultaneously selling an equivalent bar for 540 DKK per gram (ask). The spread in this example is therefore 60 DKK per gram, roughly 12 percent of the spot price. These figures are entirely fabricated for illustrative purposes and do not reflect actual market conditions; the real spread depends on the individual dealer, product form, and timing, and should always be verified directly with the dealer before any transaction.

In Denmark, the Danish Business Authority (which incorporated Sikkerhedsstyrelsen in 2026) holds overall responsibility for the control of precious metals, while the practical inspection and sampling is carried out by the Precious Metals Control body at Force Technology. Under the Act on Precious Metals and Conflict Minerals, all commercially produced or sold items of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium that are marketed as genuine must carry both a maker's mark identifying the producer or dealer, and a fineness mark stating the purity in parts per thousand. For gold, the minimum requirement is 333‰ for an item to be marketed as genuine gold at all.

Items of gold, platinum, or palladium weighing less than 1 gram, and silver items weighing less than 1.5 grams, are exempt from the stamping requirement itself, but remain subject to the control scheme, and the seller must still use a registered maker's mark. This means smaller items such as thin rings or jewellery parts may appear without a visible stamp without this necessarily indicating a counterfeit — but it also makes it harder for the consumer to independently verify fineness without professional assistance.

For the ordinary consumer wishing to assess the authenticity of a gold item, the most reliable approach is to consult a professional with access to testing equipment, such as an XRF analyser, which does not damage the item, or an acid test, which is more invasive but well-established. Home methods such as a magnet test or visual assessment can provide an indication but cannot stand alone as documentation of fineness or authenticity, and should not form the basis for a final price determination when buying or selling items of significant value.

There is an important practical distinction between valuing gold as scrap metal and valuing gold as an investment commodity. Scrap gold, which often comes from broken or outdated jewellery, old dental work, or discarded items, is typically priced solely based on its actual gold content and the current metal price, less the dealer's costs for melting and refining. Any artistic, historical, or brand value in the original item is lost once it is treated as scrap, which is why scrap gold prices are commonly well below what the item originally cost when new.

Investment gold, by contrast, is typically traded in standardised forms such as bars or coins with documented high fineness, often from recognised mints or refineries. These products are easier to resell at a price close to spot value, precisely because there is no doubt about fineness, weight, or authenticity, and because they do not require melting down to be resold. The price of investment gold therefore more closely reflects the pure metal value plus a smaller premium for manufacture, branding, and liquidity than is the case for scrap gold.

For a consumer considering selling an old gold piece of jewellery, it is therefore important to have realistic expectations: unless the item has a demonstrable special value as an antique, design piece, or brand, the dealer will typically assess it based on its pure gold content minus costs — not the original purchase price. Conversely, investment gold in standardised forms will typically trade closer to the current spot price, but still with a spread between buy and sell price, as described elsewhere.