One of the most popular ways to raise a little extra money lately is to take your unused gold jewelry to a pawn shop or a gold and silver buyer. These dealers will assess your items and offer you cash in exchange for them. Unlike traditional pawn transactions, you'll give up ownership of the items in exchange for the cash. State laws require that you show a state-issued ID when selling items to pawn shops or gold and silver buyers.

How a gold dealer determines the value of your items

1. Weight. The weight is one of the chief determinants of the value of your gold items. Gold as a commodity is priced by the ounce. The more ounces (or fractions of ounces) you sell, the most money you'll be offered.

2. Purity. A second factor that comes into play when selling gold is the purity of the gold. Gold purity is measured in carats and that number is stamped somewhere on all gold items. While gold is too soft to be able to hold a shape at 100 percent gold, all gold jewelry has at least a small amount of another metal mixed in with it to make it more solid. The purest type of gold jewelry is 24 carat gold. That means the gold is .99 to 99.9 percent pure gold. Other common carat weights include 22 carat gold (91.6 percent pure gold), 18 carat gold (75 percent pure gold) and 14 carat (58.5 percent pure gold.)

3. Current commodity rate for gold. Gold is a commodity and is traded on the open market, just like crude oil, wheat, and wool. As such, the combination of demand, supply, and market conditions work together to determine a daily rate for gold. The dealer will use this number to determine what she will pay you for your gold items. You won't get the market rate, since the dealer will take a small portion for their time as well as for the risk that the rate may go down before they can resell the items and recoup the money that  you have paid.

When you are selling the items to a gold dealer like Coins Plus, generally there is no added value for the artistry and gem stones of the piece, so it is best to remove any stones before offering your items for sale. Pawn shops may or may not offer additional compensation for these factors.