Of the common purities of gold, 10k (karat) is the lowest; this means that it has the least amount of pure gold in it, the rest is made up of other metals.
10k gold in percentage terms amounts to 41.7% pure gold. It also stands for 10 parts out of 24 gold.
You might hear that 10 karat gold is the lowest purity. This isn’t strictly true, in fact gold jewelry can be found in 9k, 8k, and even lower.
When you consider this, 10k gold certainly isn’t worthless, and is still of interest to pawn shops. In fact 10k gold is one of the most common purity options in the US, among 14k and 18k.
Most pawn shops, Meriden Pawn included, buy 10k gold jewelry. In fact at Meriden Pawn we buy all common purities of gold, more info here.
10k gold has it’s advantages
Jewelry with this percentage of gold is advantageous for its durability; it’s more difficult to scratch, bend or scuff up. Why? Pure gold is a soft metal, the more metal alloy involved, the more strength is offered from other metals that make up the item. So 10k gold can be of interest to people who want jewelry that’s going to stand up to more bumps and scrapes.
How much can you get for 10k gold?
This varies significantly on many factors, the worldwide gold market, the pawnbroker and the condition/amount of gold you have.
The best way to answer this is to get an appraisal from a local gold buyer.