Gold Price Today in the UK
The live gold price in pounds sterling — per troy ounce and per gram — converted transparently from the world spot price the metal actually trades at. The table shows every carat Britain wears, from 9ct workhorse to 24ct fine gold, with the fineness numbers that match UK hallmarks.
As of 17 September 2026, the gold price in the UK is £3,187 per troy ounce — £102.47 per gram of pure gold.
Converted at US$1 = £0.7432 (ECB reference rates, 2026-09-16). Spot itself is recorded from a live market feed every fifteen minutes.
| Stamp | Pure gold | Price per gram |
|---|---|---|
| 9ct · 375 | 37.5% | £38.43 |
| 14ct · 585 | 58.5% | £59.77 |
| 18ct · 750 | 75.0% | £76.85 |
| 22ct · 916 | 91.6% | £93.94 |
| 24ct · 999 | 99.9% | £102.37 |
Converted at US$1 = £0.7432 (ECB reference rates, 2026-09-16). Spot itself is recorded from a live market feed every fifteen minutes.
How this price is made
There is no separate “UK gold price” — gold trades globally in US dollars per troy ounce, and Britain pays the world price in pounds. This page takes the spot price our system records from a live market feed every fifteen minutes and converts it at the European Central Bank's dated reference rate, shown under every figure. When the pound moves against the dollar, the gold price in £ moves even if the metal itself has not.
That mechanism is worth understanding as a seller or buyer: a strong-dollar week can lift the sterling gold price while the world price stands still, and vice versa. The figure here is the honest midpoint — what the metal is worth, before any dealer's buying discount or selling premium.
The carats Britain actually wears
British jewellery runs on 9ct — the 375 hallmark — in a way that surprises anyone used to American or continental habits. It is the default for chains, rings and everyday pieces: durable, accessible, and utterly standard here, where a US counter might treat low-carat gold as an oddity. 18ct (750) carries the fine-jewellery trade, and 22ct (916) runs through British-Asian wedding and investment jewellery. The table above prices each of them per gram, live.
The fineness number beside each carat is not decoration: it is the same three-digit mark stamped into UK-hallmarked pieces, so you can read a hallmark and find its row directly. For what those little marks legally guarantee — and how to read the full set — see how to sell gold in the UK.
Ounces for the market, grams for the counter
The world market quotes per troy ounce (31.1035 grams), and headlines follow it. The British scrap and jewellery trade works per gram, which is why the gram figure above matters more to anyone with a drawer of old chains than the ounce figure does. Our per-gram page keeps that view permanently, and the UK calculator turns any weight and carat into pounds.
Using this number to buy or sell
Nobody transacts exactly at spot. Buying bullion, expect a premium above these figures — modest on standard coins like the Sovereign and Britannia, larger on small bars and anything boxed. Selling scrap, expect a percentage below melt value; the honest question is always which percentage, and the selling guide covers how to make UK buyers state it.
Questions people ask in the UK
- Why is the UK gold price different from the US price?
- It is the same world price in a different currency. One troy ounce costs the same metal everywhere; the £ figure moves with both the world spot price and the pound-dollar exchange rate, which is why the conversion date is shown under every number here.
- Is gold VAT-free in the UK?
- Investment gold — bars of qualifying purity and most bullion coins including Sovereigns and Britannias — has been VAT-exempt in the UK for years under HMRC's investment-gold rules, while jewellery purchases carry VAT like other goods. Rules evolve: verify current HMRC guidance before a large purchase. Selling your own jewellery does not involve charging VAT.
- What is the gold price per gram in the UK today?
- The live per-gram figure for pure gold is in the capsule above, and the table prices every carat from 9ct to 24ct. The per-gram page is the permanent home for that view.
- How often do these figures update?
- The world spot price is recorded from a live feed every fifteen minutes around the clock on trading days; the pound conversion uses the ECB reference rate, refreshed daily and dated on the page. If the exchange-rate feed ever goes stale, this page shows US dollars rather than a wrong pound figure.