FAQs

Yes we do and over the years we have had some rather interesting items through the door from gold teeth to sunken treasure right through to platinum crucibles once used by a local professor. If it is made of precious metal then we will buy it from you. From rolled gold all the way to palladium we buy it all and pay the highest prices for it. Use our live calculator to see what your item is worth at any time.

For those who are unable to get to our shop due to lack of transport or simply the size of their collection we offer home visits by appointment. Call us on 01917221421 or send us an email to begin the process.

Maundy Money is a particular passion for our founder Paul having been fortunate enough to be invited to the 2025 Maundy Ceremony at Durham Cathedral. We buy maundy sets from any era. We know that we pay unbeatable prices for current year maundy sets and pay a premium for full maundy purses as well as sets that come with original invitations, programmes and other ephemera from the day. We are passionate about this ancient ceremony and love to hear the fascinating stories about how each set we buy came to be given to the recipient.

Put simply, price and trust. We are open and honest about our prices. So much so that we advertise them openly and have a live calculator for you to use. We're so confident that we will beat any travelling roadshow or caravan buyer that we encourage you to ask them explicitly ‘What are you paying per gram’?... they'll never tell you because they're so embarrassed. We have great fun test purchasing such places on a monthly basis so be sure to follow us on social media to see just how little these people are paying the public for their cherished family heirlooms. You wouldn't buy gold from the back of a caravan in a supermarket car park, why on earth would you sell it there?

At Durham Coins we are proud to clearly display the prices we pay and have a very handy live calculator so you can see exactly what your items are worth at your convenience. The value of your jewellery is based upon its metal content for instance 9 carat gold is made up of 9 parts gold and 15 parts other metals, whereas, 22 carat gold is 22 parts gold and 2 parts other metals. This means there is a vast difference in value between the two. If you weigh your items and input that weight into our calculator you can see what we would pay for your items. We do not pay for stones and other base metal elements that may be a part of jewellery such as springs etc.

If your items were made in Great Britain or was made within The British Empire it should feature a hallmark. This is a handy way to know what your item is made from. Please head over to our handy hallmark guide if you are struggling to decipher what your items are made from. At Durham Coins we have the latest XRF technology to tell us precisely what your items are made from. Items made in some parts of the world are unmarked and it therefore takes some detective work to find out what they’re made from. XRF is non destructive and considered the gold standard for metal identification. As these machines are extremely expensive very few jewellers have properly calibrated XRF machines so always be careful as many high street and travelling buyers will file your item to acid test it, very much a destructive test.

We are proud to display our prices live 24/7. Once you have worked out what your item is made from you can use our calculator to get a live price on your item based on its weight. 9ct, 18ct and 22ct gold are the most common grades of gold we buy at Durham Coins. The value of these carats is based on the gold that is inside the item. For instance 9ct is 37.5% gold, 18ct is 75% gold and 22ct is 91.67% gold. The remainder of the weight is made up of other metals which are chosen depending on what colour of gold the jeweller or mint wished to create.

Yes, we do buy broken and damaged jewellery no matter how much or how little you have our prices remain the same. We buy anything containing precious metals.

When selling any precious metal at Durham Coins the valuation process is always the same. You bring in the items you wish to sell, we scan and sort them by purity. We then price the weight of each purity and present you with the final price. If you wish to proceed we simply need to see a copy of your Photo ID at which point we can take some details including your sort code and account number. You will then be paid on the same day. If you change your mind and do not wish to sell on the day and wish to go away and think about it that is totally fine there is never any obligation to sell and we are so confident in our prices we happily display our prices for you to compare them to other buyers.

The key difference between the gold spot price and the scrap gold price is that the spot price is what pure gold is currently trading for on the stock exchange. These are paper contracts which are a promise to deliver gold should the holder of the contract issues a ‘call’ for delivery. The scrap price is the price you can sell your physical gold for. There is a difference between the two because in order to return scrap gold back to pure gold it requires a number of dangerous and expensive processes.

Yes we do. Durham Coins are leading buyers in the north of england of rolled gold. You will note that on rolled gold items it will often provide the percentage of rolled gold contained within the item. It is usual to see rolled gold in watch straps, pocket watches and some higher end costume jewellery. The percentage of gold will dictate the price. For instance if you have 1/20 9ct rolled gold (5% of 9ct) then we would pay 5% of the rate were currently paying for 9ct gold as theres only 5% of the items overall weight as gold. We are happy to take a look at any rolled gold items and as always our advice is totally free.

Yes we do. Hallmarks feature on British items but they are not common across the world. Items m ay very well have numbers stamped on them, however, there is no legal ramifications for falsifying those numbers in many parts of the world, whereas, if you falsify hallmarks in the UK it is a serious criminal offence. As a result we XRF test every item we buy so if something isnt hallmarked we can tell exactly what it is made up of at the chemical level as we use the most advanced XRF technology. Something many other gold buyers simply dont have the ability to invest in and therefore rely on filing down your gold and using acid to see what its made from.

This is the million dollar question. To date the record amount we've paid for a single coin that has walked into the shop has been £79,500 but could you beat that? The simple fact is that currency has been produced for millennia and the smallest features can make worlds of difference when it comes to value. Take the gothic crown for instance, in poor condition its a £1-2000 coin but find one that is beautifully toned and in immaculate condition and you're talking a five figure sum. We are happy to take a look at nay coins you may have, you just never know what value you might have sitting in the cupboard.

Yes, we pay a premium for rare sovereigns and special year proof examples. Do you have sovereigns to sell? Take a look at our live calculator to get an idea of what yours are worth.

The Krugerrand is one of the most widely recognised bullion coins in the world. Produced in South Africa it comes in a variety of formats. The most popular is the 1ozt gold Krugerrand. You can check to see how much your Krugerrands are worth by using our live calculator.

Silver coins are at the heart of what started Durham Coins. We buy anything from pre-47 british currency to foreign silver coins and bullion. Whether it be britannias, krugerrands, thalers, eagles, maples or more we buy them all. We pay 100% of the spot price on silver bullion coins. Head over to our live calculator to see what your silver coins are worth today.

Some old coins ARE worth more than their face value depending on multiple factors. For instance British coins that are silver in colour and have a date of 1946 or prior have silver in them and, therefore, are worth a lot more than face value. On the other hand British coins with a date of 1947 or after are made of cupronickel, a very cheap metal mints moved to as the price of silver began to rise. This means that these coins are worth considerably less than their silver counterparts and as such we buy them based on their weight. We call these coins ‘kiloware’. There are countless rare coins from all over the world. If you're curious about a coin you own please reach out to us and we are always happy to help.

The process is extremely straightforward. We encourage anyone with a coin collection to send across some photographs via email or whatsapp. If you're unable to do so a basic list also works. We can then give you a rough idea of what we would be able to pay and then either we can come and collect from you or you can bring the collection into the shop. Payment is made at 17:30 on the same day we take receipt of your collection. It couldn't be simpler to sell a coin collection.

War medals are popular the world over and as such can command significant premiums. If someone was mentioned in dispatches or given a medal for gallantry the value of those items can quickly climb. For instance a Victoria Cross is worth at minimum six figures with some extremely famous examples selling for significant sums. If you have medals to sell please reach out to us.

One of our keen interests are campaign medals and we are proud to have reunited a number of families with their descendants' medals. It is one of the highlights of our career. We buy medals from war and campaign medals right through to commemorative medals such as for coronations, births, competitions and imperial occasions. We buy medals from all over the world. Our founder Paul is a leading expert on the medals of the Siege of Seringapatam in 1799 and is passionate about preserving history. If you have medals to sell, Durham Coins is the place for you. We also offer a medal mounting service should you wish to preserve your family medals.

Yes absolutely commemorative coins are a key element of what we do here at durham coins. Whether it be proof sets, year sets, carded limited editions, special issues or errors we buy them all. We will gladly take a look at any coin collection regardless of how big or small it is.

This is a question we get asked countless times a day and the answer is YES, but with a large BUT attached. We buy 50p and £2 coins issued by the royal mint in packs and years sets. We DO NOT buy circulation £2 coins as they simply are not rare and command face value, you're best spending them. On 50p coins there are very very few that have a premium and as a general rule we don't buy 50p coins you've found in your change unless they are:

• 2009 Kew Gardens

• 2011 Olympic Swimmer error (lines over face)

• 2011 Olympic offside rule

• 2018 Jemima Puddleduck

• 2019 Brexit (NOT 2020)

• 2023 King Charles Salmon

We have written a handy article to explain why you are seeing so many posts from newspapers about 50p coins ‘selling for thousands. We urge anyone with 50p coins to sell to read that prior to reaching out.

You can sell gold bullion in the heart of historic Durham city centre. We are based in The Prince Bishops shopping centre. Use our live gold calculator to see what your items are currently worth.

Yes we do. We buy any precious metal bars whether that be fine investment grade items or hand poured bars.

The difference between bullion and jewellery comes down predominantly to gold purity. Bullion is produced in ‘fine’ metals meaning that they are as pure as refining is able to get them. Typically 999.9% pure. Jewellery on the other hand is almost always ‘alloyed’. This means it is mixed with other metals in order to increase its hardness and change its colour. For instance if you wanted to make yellow gold you would add silver and rose gold you would add copper. If you were to make jewellery from pure gold it would be incredibly soft and would scratch and dent easily. Pure gold jewellery does exist but is predominantly used in Indian wedding jewellery as well as in traditional Thai and Arabic pieces.

There really is no difference as you are selling the gold within each item regardless of what form that gold is in. 18ct gold is worth twice as much as 9ct gold simply because it has double the amount of gold in it. A sovereign is worth so much more than 9ct scrap because it is 91.67% pure gold whereas 9ct jewellery is 37.5% pure gold.

Selling gold at Durham Coins is extremely safe as we are transparent with our pricing and have a physical location you can come to. We would advise against going to travelling roadshows or selling your gold in the back of caravans as we have recently seen. Durham Coins are BNTA dealers and members of a number of international trade bodies. With us you know what we will pay up front and know you'll be paid the same day. Ask what price these other companies are paying and they'll come up with every excuse in the book not to give you a number. We would consider that an unsafe way to sell your family heirlooms.

We process payment for all of our customers by 17:30 on the same day we agree to buy the items.

Yes we do regardless of the purity we buy any precious metals no matter how obscure. It does not matter what form it is in, once we ascertain its purity we can give you an instant valuation.

You will need to bring along a government issued photo ID

Our price is fixed. We pay 90% of the live spot price for gold. You can use our live calculator to get a live price for your items at any time of the day or night. All prices are quoted live.

You can sell your gold for the highest prices in the north at Durham Coins. We are open and transparent about our pricing. You can check what your items are worth at any time of day by using our handy live calculator. We are so confident our prices are unbeatable that we openly advertise what we pay and encourage you take ask other dealers why they're not displaying their prices? What have they got to hide? I think we all know don't we?

The best place to sell jewellery is at Durham Coins. You are able to check the price of your items atr your leisure using our online live calculator. Just input the weights of each carat of gold you have and it will provide you with a live total. Sell your unwanted jewellery where a large number of jewellers and pawnbrokers in the north sell theirs!

Durham Coins are the North's premier coin buyers. We have a vast knowledge base and buy everything from unwanted holiday change to defunct currency right up to the rarest numismatic pieces. We are well known within the numismatic world and are members of countless international bodies such as BNTA (British Numismatic Trade Association) ANA (American Numismatic Association), RNS (Royal Numismatic Society, ONS (Oriental Numismatic Society, FUN (Florida United Numismatics) amongst many others. From Ancient to Modern we buy it all!