Coins, rings, watches…and teeth! How much gold is actually in the everyday things we use?

How much gold?

On an average day, it’s likely that you’ll come across something that at least looks like it might be gold or have gold in it… but is that really the case? Or is it more a case of ‘all that glitters is not gold’?
We take real gold very seriously here at Physical Gold, so we decided to investigate how much gold really is in the everyday items we come across.

The contents of your wallet

Unfortunately, melting down the contents of your wallet or purse is unlikely to give you enough gold to start a serious gold investment. Or any gold in actual fact! The £1 coin, popularly described as gold in colour, is actually made of a nickel-brass alloy that consists of 70% copper, 24.5% zinc and 5.5% nickel. Typically, both newer and better-looking, the £2 coin might tempt you into believing it has some gold content but sadly, this isn’t the case either. The ‘gold’ outer ring is 76% copper, 4% nickel, 20% zinc. If you’re after a true gold coin then take a look at our range here.

Your phone and computer

Silver and gold are two of the best conductors in the metal world, which means they can often be found in small quantities in consumer electronics. Don’t go melting down your iPhone just yet though! There are only around 275 grams of gold in every ton of smartphones. To get a ton of smartphones, you’d need to buy about ten thousand handsets. Ten thousand iPhone 5s would set you back around £1.8 million. Your gold return from that purchase? At today’s £23.16 per gram, just £6,369.

Your wedding ring

Now we’re getting somewhere! 24 karat gold is, in essence, ‘pure gold’. Many gold wedding rings are 12 karats, which means that they are 50% gold. If you’re lucky enough to have an 18 karat gold ring, then your gold is 75% pure! A typical wedding ring weighs about 7 grams. If you do want to possess some pure gold, then you’d be better (and safer) looking at our gold bullion bars.

Your watch

It’s difficult to say on a watch-by-watch basis how much gold you’re wearing on your wrist. Depending on the make and model, your supplier should have been able to provide the karat information, along the same lines as wedding rings above. In most cases, it’s likely that only a small part of your watch will be gold. Watches that are entirely gold tend to be slightly smaller, because of the obvious cost. Tag Heuer, for example, do make watches with plenty of gold in them… just take a deep breath when asking for the price!

Your… teeth?!

This might not apply to all of us, but if you do have a gold crown in your molar then yes, you are carrying around some real gold! Crowns can go all the way up to 22 karat gold, although it’s likely that most are around 16 karat. Now hold still… this won’t hurt a bit.