Short answer: write down the weight, purity and price of every piece of gold on the day you buy it, keep the bill, and put it all in one list next to the rest of your money. Coins and jewellery need you to update their value now and then. Gold ETFs, gold mutual funds and Sovereign Gold Bonds can follow the market on their own.
Dhanteras falls on Friday 6 November 2026, with Diwali on Sunday 8 November. It is the biggest gold-buying day of the year in India. Over the two days of Dhanteras in 2025, jewellers sold about 50 to 60 tonnes of jewellery, worth nearly ₹85,000 crore, according to the All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (WION, 20 October 2025). Most of that gold goes into a cupboard or a locker and is never counted again. This guide is about counting it.
The five kinds of gold people buy
| Kind | What you hold | Where the price comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Coins and bars | Physical gold, usually 24k, sold by weight | The gold rate on the day, minus what the buyer charges to take it back |
| Jewellery | Physical gold, usually 22k or 18k, with making charges | Gold weight times the gold rate. Making charges are usually lost on resale |
| Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB) | Government bonds counted in grams of gold | Traded on NSE and BSE; paid back at the gold price at maturity |
| Gold ETFs and gold mutual funds | Fund units backed by gold | A market price (ETF) or a daily NAV (fund) |
| Digital gold | A claim on gold held by an app's vault partner | The app's own buy and sell rates |
What to write down on the day you buy
- Weight in grams. Not the price. The price changes every day; the weight does not.
- Purity. 24k, 22k or 18k. It is printed on the hallmark.
- The gold rate per gram you paid, and separately the making charges and GST on the bill.
- The HUID. Hallmarked gold jewellery sold in India carries a six-character HUID code, and you can check it in the BIS Care app (BIS).
- A photo of the bill. You will want it when you sell, exchange, insure or pass the gold on.
- Who it belongs to. Wedding jewellery, a gift for a child, a coin for the puja. In a family this matters later.
Why jewellery is worth less than its price tag
When you buy a necklace you pay for the gold, the making charges and GST. When you sell or exchange it, a jeweller usually pays only for the gold, by weight and purity. So the honest value of jewellery in your net worth is its gold weight times today's rate for that purity, not what you paid. Coins and bars lose less, because their making charges are small.
Sovereign Gold Bonds: what you can and cannot do now
Each SGB unit is one gram of gold. It pays a fixed 2.5% a year on what you put in, for 8 years, and at the end you are paid the gold price (RBI SGB FAQ). No new SGBs have been issued since February 2024 (Outlook Business), so you cannot buy a fresh one this Dhanteras. Bonds already issued still trade on NSE and BSE. If you already hold some, they belong in the same list as your coins. More on SGBs and other government bonds in our RBI Retail Direct guide.
Digital gold: a word of caution
Buying ₹100 of gold on an app is easy, and it is a popular Dhanteras gift. In November 2025 SEBI warned that these "digital gold" products are not securities and sit outside its rules, so none of the usual investor protections apply (The Week). SEBI pointed to gold ETFs and electronic gold receipts as the regulated options. If you hold digital gold, note the app, the grams and the date, and check the app's sell rate when you update your list.
How often to update the value
Gold funds and ETFs move every day, so let a tracker do it. Coins and jewellery do not need daily updates. Once a month, or after a big move in the gold price, is plenty: take the grams you wrote down, multiply by today's rate for that purity, and update the number.
How to track your gold in Agni Folio
Agni Folio is a net-worth and portfolio tracker for your whole family's money: stocks, funds, bank accounts, property, loans and gold, in any currency. It has a full-featured free plan, and Premium adds the advanced AI features. Here is how each kind of gold goes in today.
- Coins and bars: Add Entry, choose Precious Metals, then Gold (Physical - Bars/Coins). Enter the current value in rupees. Put the grams and purity in the name, for example "Gold coin 10 g 24k (Dhanteras 2026)".
- Jewellery: same steps, type Gold Jewelry. Enter the gold value (weight times today's rate), not the bill total. Add the HUID and making charges in the notes.
- Digital gold: type Gold (Digital/Paper Gold), entered as a value.
- Gold ETFs and gold mutual funds: add them under Investment Securities as an ETF or Mutual Fund, search for the fund, and enter the number of units. The price then updates on its own.
- Sovereign Gold Bonds: under Investment Securities, type Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB, India). Enter the grams as units. The price updates from the exchange.
- Keep the bill with the gold: open the holding and link the bill or hallmark certificate as a document.
- Set a reminder on the entry to update your coin and jewellery values every few months.
Be clear about one thing: Agni Folio does not fetch a live gold rate for coins, bars, jewellery or digital gold. You set those values, and they stay as you set them until you change them. Gold ETFs, gold mutual funds and SGBs are the ones that follow the market.
Gold bought abroad works the same way. Coins bought in Dubai or Singapore can be entered in AED or SGD, and your total is shown in your own currency.
FAQ
Should I count jewellery in my net worth?
Yes, at its gold value (weight times today's rate for its purity). Leave out making charges, because you usually do not get them back.
Can I still buy Sovereign Gold Bonds this Dhanteras?
Not new ones. No new SGBs have been issued since February 2024. You can buy existing SGBs on NSE or BSE through a broker.
Is digital gold safe?
SEBI said in November 2025 that digital gold is outside its rules, so investor protections do not apply. Gold ETFs and electronic gold receipts are regulated.
How do I record gold received as a gift?
Write down the weight and purity, and value it at today's rate. Note who gave it and when.
