Gold often arrives in a family without instructions. A bangle from a grandmother, a few coins in a tin, a small bar in a box with no papers. Before anyone talks about keeping it, selling it or sharing it out, it helps to know what it actually is. These are the questions to work through, in this order.

1. What kind of gold is it?

Sort the pieces into three groups: bars, coins and jewellery. They are valued differently. A bar or a bullion coin is valued mostly by the gold in it. When jewellery is sold, the price is usually based on the gold in it too, not on what it cost to make or what it means to the family. Antique, signed or collectible pieces, and rare coins, can be worth more than their gold. A specialist can tell you. Knowing which group each piece belongs to tells you which questions matter most.

2. What does each piece weigh?

Weigh each piece in grams. A kitchen scale gives a first idea, and a jeweller can weigh it for you.

One trap: gold prices are often quoted per troy ounce, which is 31.1 grams. The ounce in a recipe is 28.35 grams. Mix the two up and a quick sum is off by almost 10 percent. If you think in grams, convert the price to grams first.

3. How pure is it?

Look for a stamp. Gold is marked either in karats (24K, 22K, 18K) or in fineness, the parts of gold per thousand (999, 916, 750).

  • 24K or 999 is close to pure gold.
  • 22K or 916 is about 91.6 percent gold.
  • 18K or 750 is 75 percent gold.

A stamp states the purity; it does not prove it. If there is no stamp, or you want to be sure, a jeweller can test it.

4. Is there any paper?

Look for a receipt, a certificate, or a serial number on a bar. Photograph whatever you find, front and back. Papers help show what a piece is: who made or sold it, its weight and its purity. If there is nothing, that can happen with older family gold; the weight and the purity become your record.

5. What is the gold in it worth today?

Two numbers give you the pure gold in a piece: its weight and its purity.

A 20 gram bangle in 22K gold holds about 18.3 grams of pure gold (20 x 0.916). Multiply the pure grams by today's price per gram of pure gold, in your currency, and you have the value of the gold in it.

That is not the same as what a shop will pay. A shop usually pays less, because it has costs to cover: testing, storage and resale. It helps to know both numbers on the day you decide.

6. If your family pays zakat

Zakat on gold is generally due once you hold 85 grams of pure gold or more for a full lunar year, and the rate is 2.5 percent. The pure-gold grams from step 5 are the number you need. Scholars differ on jewellery that is worn, so ask the scholar you follow.

7. Write it down

For each piece: what it is, its weight, its purity, its pure grams, what papers exist and where they are, and a photo. Make sure the people who will need the list know where it is. When the family talks about the gold, everyone starts from the same facts.

You can keep that list on paper, in a spreadsheet, or in FiLot: sign in, photograph the papers, and the AI reads them. You check each line and approve it, and only then is it saved.

General information, not legal, tax or financial advice.

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