What Is Broken Gold?
Broken gold is a term that describes gold jewelry that is broken. It does not mean the gold is no longer worth anything, but it does mean the pawn value of the piece of jewelry can no longer be determined solely by whether the piece would sell as regular jewelry. In other words, a gold ring that is in good shape might have a pawn value based on the ring itself and the chances of someone buying the ring if you don't return to claim it. But a broken ring's price may be determined by other factors. That's not necessarily a bad thing.
It's Still Gold
Remember that broken gold is still gold. As long as it's of a relatively valuable karat rating (e.g., 14 karats and so on), it will have value because it's a precious metal. At the very least, you could get the scrap value of the piece when you try to pawn it. That can get you a very good price if that day's gold price is doing well; scrap value varies from day to day as the price of gold changes.
Will the Shop Pay Scrap Value?
So now the question becomes, where do you find a pawn shop that will take the item? When you contact shops, ask specifically if you can pawn broken gold for scrap value. It is possible that the shop won't allow you to pawn it in the regular sense; you may have to sell it to them outright with no chance of getting the item back. Yet others will let you pawn it normally, with a chance of getting it back, but for scrap value only.
The Piece Might Be Salvageable
Another feature that might determine how the pawn value of the item is calculated is whether the item is repairable. A broken gold ring that has a clean cut and no dents might be fixable. After all, that's how resizing is done; rings are cut and then welded back together. Something that can be fixed may get a higher pawn value if the shop does its own jewelry work. If you don't come back to claim the jewelry, they can fix the problem and put the piece up for sale.
If the jewelry you want to pawn is broken, don't assume it's worth nothing. Call a shop, like Wimpey's Pawn Shop, and tell the staff what you have. They may be able to help you a lot more than you thought they could.