Report: Americans Are Sitting on $750 Billion in Unappraised Gold Jewelry

A new report is putting a number on one of the most overlooked asset categories in American households: gold jewelry sitting untouched in drawers. Unvault’s Jewelry Drawer Index estimates American homes hold roughly $750 billion in intrinsic gold metal value alone. The estimate is built on World Gold Council data showing Americans bought 7,050 tonnes of gold jewelry between 1995 and 2025, and because three out of four fine jewelry purchases are never resold or recycled, the firm estimates about 5,288 tonnes of physical gold remain stored in homes nationwide.

The gap between what that gold is worth and what owners think it’s worth is wide: the report found owners typically underestimate the current gold metal value of their pieces by a factor of three or more, and nearly two-thirds of U.S. jewelry owners carry no insurance on their fine jewelry due to outdated or missing appraisals. The national average sits at $5,700 in gold value per household, with New Jersey leading all states at $8,784, followed by Connecticut, California, Maryland and Massachusetts.