Are you looking for the current gold price and some answers as to why the gold price goes up or down? Maybe you’re thinking about buying or selling gold and know how important it is to know the going value when dealing with gold. Gold is officially traded in ounces and kilograms but also in grams and pennyweight. We are constantly obtaining the current gold price from the Comex, the London OTC market, and the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
Current gold price
What’s affecting the current gold price?
The economy and political decisions have a major impact on the current gold price. Decisions made by politicians representing powerful economies like the United States and China can directly impact gold, causing the price of the shimmering metal to rise or fall. And those decisions also impact you as a consumer. If you own gold, whether it’s in the form of a stock, a bar, jewelry, or even a tooth, a price change directly affects the value of your asset.
Traders are taking advantage of gold price fluctuations, and so can you. Let’s take a look at the current gold price and the price in previous months and years.
You might think that only traders and the wealthy can make money on a bull market, but that’s not true. Gold started around $1,200.00 per ounce at the beginning of 2019 and went up to $1,550.00. If you’d bought 10 ounces of gold by end of 2018 or beginning of 2019, you would have earned a nice profit of $3,500—in other words, you would have had a performance of 29.2% on your invested capital.
The current gold price also directly affects some important industries: jewelry makers, coin dealers, pawn shops, and of course all gold-buying operations. Reliable businesses need to adjust their gold quotes daily, twice a day, or even more often to ensure accurate pricing. Why? Look down at your wedding band; the gold price rally in the first six months of 2019 affected even the value of your ring. A 14K gold band weighing 10 grams was worth $225 in January but $291 by the end of August. Everyone who sold gold jewelry or other gold products at the end of 2018 or beginning of 2019 would have gotten almost 30% more in August 2019. That’s in the longer term, but even within a day, we’ve seen price changes of up to $50 per ounce—so don’t think you can’t take advantage of a gold price rally.
President Trump Sends Gold on a Boost Just by Tweeting
First, let’s get back to the initial question of what impacts the price of gold. We mentioned political decisions as a major factor. It was mid-August 2019 when China announced new tariffs, leading President Trump to post a series of comments on Twitter that caused the markets to shatter. The price of gold jumped almost $50 in just hours.
Brexit, YES to Leaving the European Union
In Great Britain, a referendum was held on June 23, 2016 about whether the UK should stay in or leave the European Union. When officials announced that voters opted to leave, the gold price went through the roof. The uncertainty connected with the decision to break with Brussels led to a market crash, and the fear that other countries might follow the UK out of the Union brought the gold price to a boil. Such decisions with far-reaching consequences have a direct impact on the current gold price.
New Sanctions on Iran
After the announcement that the United States would put more sanctions on Iran and Iranian leaders, the gold price rose again—by almost 5% in just hours. That was mid-August 2019. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammed Sarif, and religious leader Ajatollah Ali Chamenei were also personally punished with financial restrictions by the US, causing fears that the conflict could even result in war. Sometimes, harsh rhetoric and threats are enough to push the current gold price.
The Financial Crisis of 2008
In 2008, when the markets collapsed and the real estate crisis reached its peak, financial institutions, banks, insurance companies, national banks, and private individuals had just one thing in mind: GOLD. It was the only commodity people and enterprises were willing to trust, sending the gold price on a year-long rally. From 2008/2009 to 2011, the gold price went up from less than $1,000 to almost $2,000 per ounce.
Other Gold Price Influences
Inflation, interest rates, the US dollar, and even the price of oil are all impacting the current gold price. You might be surprised to learn that if we look at the last 10 years, the jewelry industry has had the smallest impact on the price of gold. Jewelry makers struggled with the high gold prices, as they made merchandise more expensive and caused many businesses to shift to silver for making jewelry. The demand for jewelry, especially in countries like Turkey, India, and Saudi Arabia, decreased, while the demand for coins and bars shot through the roof.
Current Gold Price
Besides oil, gold is the most talked-about commodity. Discussions about demand, price manipulation, and availability concern consumers, investors, and officials every day. A rapidly rising or falling gold price can especially spark emotional discussions. Is the price drop natural? Was it governmentally controlled or driven by speculators? Conspiracy theories often circulate when people are talking about the current gold price.
Gold is traded at the New York Stock Exchange and other stock exchanges all over the world: Hong Kong, Zurich, and London are just a few examples. The New York Stock Exchange is the most important stock exchange for trading gold, and trading volume directly affects the current gold price.
Current Gold Price Per Ounce
Right now, the current gold price per ounce is $1,322.33. Traders and speculators talk about the price in ounces because it’s the most common weight unit for gold. All over the world, miners and traders are using troy ounces to measure the weight of gold. Moreover, many gold products like coins or bars weigh or contain exactly one troy ounce of pure gold.
Thus, most people refer to the gold price per ounce if they’re talking about buying or selling their gold bullion. For smaller quantities, grams or pennyweight are more useful weight units, as they allow for a more accurate calculation of the current gold value. In the US, we trade gold in US dollars. However, gold is traded in euros in Europe and in Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong.
- Current gold price per ounce for 24K gold: $2638.45
- Current gold price per ounce for 18K gold: $1980.82
- Current gold price per ounce for 14K gold: $1539.76
Current Gold Price Per Pennyweight (dwt.)
When people talk about the current gold price in pennyweight (short: dwt.), they’re usually talking about jewelry or scrap gold. But it’s also a geographical thing. While the term “pennyweight” is most common in Florida, states like California and Nevada only use grams. Other states like New York are using both weight units, grams and pennyweight, which can also lead to confusion.
Only the weight of jewelry or scrap gold will be described in pennyweight. It’s very unusual to express the current gold price for bullion per pennyweight.
- Current gold price per dwt. for 24K gold: $131.50
- Current gold price per dwt. for 18K gold: $98.72
- Current gold price per dwt. for 14K gold: $76.74
Current Gold Price Per Gram
The vast majority of people use grams over pennyweight as a weight unit for their gold. Most digital scales are preset to grams as their standard unit of weight. Most appraisers, gold buyers, and miners also use grams, as it’s just more accurate. A quick look at jewelry descriptions of the two most famous auction houses for fine jewelry, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, makes it clear that grams are also most commonly used by the world’s leading jewelry appraisers.
Want to weigh your gold products in grams? We have a great basic $5 scale for sale, making it very easy to check the weight of your item.
- Current gold price per gram for 24K gold: $84.84
- Current gold price per gram for 18K gold: $63.69
- Current gold price per gram for 14K gold: $49.51