Gold Scrap Facts You’re Probably Dying to Know

Recycle and Refine GoldRecycle Precious MetalsRecycling and Refining
Written By Barry Lenson

“You shouldn’t just toss your old iPhone,” a friend tells you, “it contains a lot of gold.”

Your friend isn’t kidding you, because your iPhone does contain gold. But he or she is stretching the truth, because although your old iPhone does contain gold that can be reclaimed, it doesn’t contain a lot of gold. It only contains very little.

So how much? In today’s post, we will answer that question, along with others that are probably on your mind. Let’s dive right in.

How much gold does a dead iPhone contain?

It contains about 0.001 Troy Ounces, which is worth about $1.75 if you let an experienced precious metal refinery extract it for you. And what if your old phone isn’t an iPhone, but a Samsung phone? We’re sorry to disappoint you, but that Samsung contains almost the exact same amount of gold as an old iPhone does, or about 0.001 Troy Ounces.

How much gold is in an old laptop?

It varies according to the size of the machine and its internal components, but your average laptop contains about three times the amount of gold that a cellphone does, or about 0.003 Troy Ounces, which is worth about $5.00.

How much gold is in an old digital camera?

Some old digital cameras are quite large and have multiple printed circuit boards. Others – the ones that were designed to slip into your shirt pocket – obviously contain a lot less. But in general – and we are offering you only a rough, ballpark estimate, a small camera that is about the size of a cellphone contains about the same amount of gold that a cellphone contains, or about $1.75.00 worth. If you have a big old digital camera that is about three times the size of an iPhone, it will contain about three times the amount of gold that an iPhone contains, or about $5.00 worth, if we recycle it for you.

What common items contain larger amounts of gold?

We can’t provide firm figures on how much gold can be extracted from the following items, because there are too many variable factors, like the thickness of gold plating, the overall size of the item, and others. But we can tell you that the following items contain more gold than your average old cellphone:

  • Gold-filled eyeglass frames

  • Gold-plated jewelry

  • Karat gold class rings

  • Used sputtering targets that were used in plating operations

  • Watches that had gold-filled cases (note that even secondary brand watches that are not sought-after collectibles can still have cases that contain $10.00, $20.00 worth of gold, or even more)

  • Large old electronic devices, including game consoles, laser disk players (note that we are not talking about a gold mine’s worth of value here, but a large old component could contain up to $8.00 worth of recyclable gold)

What’s the best way to make money recycling these items?

Simple answer. The key to making money with the forms of gold scrap we are writing about today is to buy the largest quantity of them you can, at the lowest price per unit.

That’s obvious, but let us also point out that you will make the most money by recycling your items with us, Precious Metals Smelters and Refiners. You could take them to a precious metals refinery near you, of course, or you could sell them to a jewelry store near you, or to a “we buy gold” store that is on a highway near you.

But before you do, give us a call at 800-426-2344. We are here to answer your questions, to test your items for you, and to pay you for the gold they contain, at current market prices. No nonsense, just a businesslike way of helping you obtain a maximum payout for every iPhone (or any other item) you send to our precious metal refinery.

Barry Lenson
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