24K Gold Price Today

What 24K means

Karats measure gold content in 24ths, so 24 karat is the top of the scale: gold with no deliberate alloy. In practice no metal is perfectly pure, and 24K is sold at two fineness levels. 999 ("three nines") means at least 99.9% gold; 999.9 ("four nines") means at least 99.99%. Most modern investment bars and many bullion coins, including the Canadian Maple Leaf, the American Buffalo and the British Britannia, are 999.9. Large 400-ounce London Good Delivery bars must be at least 995 fine and are priced on their actual fine-gold content.

On this site 24K uses a purity factor of 1.000, so the per-gram figure in the table is the full spot price per gram. The difference between 999 and 999.9 is 0.09% of value, too small to show up in a retail quote.

24K gold price today in the USA

US dealers quote gold per troy ounce (31.1035 g), and US scrap buyers often work in pennyweight (1.555 g), which is why both appear in the table. The live dollar price is the same in every state; what changes is the premium. A 1 oz bar from a large refiner typically sells at a few percent over spot, while small bars (1 g to 10 g) and fractional coins carry much higher premiums per ounce because fabrication and packaging costs are similar regardless of size. Sales tax rules on bullion are set by each state, and many states exempt investment bullion, so check your own state before comparing online and local prices.

Hallmarks and marks to look for

• 999, 999.9, 24K, 24KT: standard stamps on bars, coins and some jewellery.
• Refiner name, serial number and weight: reputable bars carry all three, often with an assay card.
• India: BIS-hallmarked 24K coins and bars carry the BIS logo and a 995 or 999 fineness mark.
• Hong Kong and mainland China: 足金 (chuk kam) marks gold of at least 99.0%, a traditional "pure gold" grade slightly below 999.

Colour, softness and durability

Pure gold has a deep, warm yellow that alloyed karats cannot match. It is also very soft (around 2.5 on the Mohs scale): a 24K ring scratches against a desk, bends under pressure and cannot hold a claw setting securely. That is why 24K is rare in Western jewellery and why South Asian and Gulf jewellers use 22K for most ornaments. 24K never tarnishes, which makes it ideal for long-term storage.

Where 24K is used

• Investment bars and bullion coins worldwide.
• Gold savings coins sold by banks and jewellers in India, the Gulf and Southeast Asia, popular for Dhanteras and Akshaya Tritiya.
• Chinese and Hong Kong pure-gold jewellery, which uses hard-alloy techniques to make thin 99.9% pieces wearable.
• Electronics, dentistry and gold leaf, where purity matters more than hardness.

How to price a 24K bar: worked example

Suppose the live 24K price is US$133.00 per gram (illustrative) and a dealer sells a 10 g bar at a 4% premium.

Run your own numbers with the gold calculator, entering the live price from the table above.

Resale considerations

24K bars and coins from well-known refiners and mints are the easiest gold to sell close to spot, because buyers do not need to assay them destructively and there is no making charge to lose. Keep the assay card and packaging; a bar that has been removed from its sealed card may be tested before purchase. Expect a buy-back price somewhat below spot, so the round-trip cost is roughly the purchase premium plus the dealer's buy-back discount. Read how to sell gold before you go.