Precious metals
Gold Price in the UK
Live gold price per gram and per ounce, by karat, in GBP.
102.03 GBP
per ounce: 3,173.59 GBP · per tola: 1,190.10 GBP
| Karat | Per gram | Per ounce |
|---|---|---|
| 24K | 102.03 GBP | 3,173.59 GBP |
| 22K | 93.53 GBP | 2,909.13 GBP |
| 21K | 89.28 GBP | 2,776.89 GBP |
| 18K | 76.53 GBP | 2,380.20 GBP |
Raw metal (spot) value — shops pay less when buying and charge more when selling (premium + making charges).
Typical making charges: souk ~6–10%, branded jewellery ~15–25%. Rough estimate — negotiate!
Silver: 1.48 GBP / gram
Spot prices via gold-api.com, updated 2026-10-11 — for information only, not financial advice, and not our responsibility for any decisions made using them. Jewellers add a premium and making charges over spot, so retail prices are higher.
Gold price in the UK, explained
Gold trades globally in US dollars per troy ounce. To show the price in GBP, we convert at the live exchange rate and divide by 31.1035 grams, then adjust for karat purity. That is why the local price moves with both the gold market and the GBP exchange rate.
Need the price in another currency? Use our currency converter.
Gold in the UK: the local market
Britain's classic investment pieces are the 22K gold sovereign (7.32 g of fine gold) and the 24K Britannia. Because both are UK legal tender, private investors pay no capital-gains tax on their profits — a quirk unique to British coins.
Investment-grade gold has been VAT-free in the UK since 2000, while jewelry carries the standard 20% VAT, which is why Britons overwhelmingly invest through coins rather than ornaments.
Local units & today’s value in GBP
| Unit | 24K | 22K (local standard) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 gram | 102 GBP | 93.53 GBP |
| 1 troy ounce(31.1035 g) | 3,174 GBP | 2,909 GBP |
| 1 sovereign (fine gold)(7.322 g) | 747 GBP | 685 GBP |
Spot value only — local shops add making charges and any taxes. Prices as of 2026-10-11.
How a UK dealer quote is built
British dealers quote sovereigns and Britannias at a premium over the London spot price, which is fixed twice daily by the LBMA and is the reference for this page. Sovereigns from recent years trade close to bullion value; older and rarer dates carry numismatic premiums that do not track spot. Buy-back is a little under spot, and because the coins are UK legal tender, any profit on sale is free of capital gains tax — a saving that grows with the size of the holding.
Hallmarking is compulsory in the UK for gold items over one gram, and the mark shows fineness in parts per thousand: 375 (9K), 585 (14K), 750 (18K), 916 (22K). Nine-karat is the everyday British standard, so most UK jewellery contains only 37.5% gold and its scrap value is correspondingly low.
Selling gold in the UK
Postal gold buyers advertise aggressively but often pay well below melt value; a local jeweller or a specialist bullion dealer usually pays more, and asking for the price per gram at your karat makes offers comparable. Investment gold is VAT-free to buy, but you cannot reclaim the 20% VAT paid on jewellery when you sell it, which is the main reason jewellery makes a poor store of value compared with coins.
Zakat nisab in GBP today
The gold nisab — the minimum wealth at which zakat becomes due — is 85 grams of pure gold. At today’s spot price that is about 8,673 GBP. If your zakatable wealth is above this, work out what you owe with our zakat calculator (live nisab, gold or silver method).
Gold price in other countries
Frequently asked questions
What is the gold price per gram in the UK today?+
This page shows the live 24K gold price per gram in GBP, along with 22K, 21K and 18K. It is the international spot price converted to GBP and divided per gram, updated hourly.
Why is the jeweller's price in the UK higher than this?+
This is the raw metal (spot) value. Shops add a premium plus making charges, and local taxes may apply, so the retail price is higher than spot.
Which karat is most common in the UK?+
22K (91.7% pure) is the karat most commonly traded in the UK. 24K is pure gold; lower karats mix in alloy and cost proportionally less per gram. Note: Investment gold is VAT-free; sovereigns and Britannias are also capital-gains-tax-free.
Why are sovereigns free of capital gains tax?+
Because they are legal tender with a face value, HMRC treats them as currency rather than as a chargeable asset. The same applies to Britannias and other UK legal-tender coins; it does not apply to bars or foreign coins.