Auctioning gold and auctioning silver is not the correct choice when the value of the item is solely the intrinsic value of its precious metal. This can be difficult to accept when it was a gift or an inheritance from a loved one. 

Considering the commissions charged to both the seller and buyer at auction, you're effectively losing your money by selling this way. Most auction houses will charge you around 15% + VAT to sell your item and they'll also charge the buyer around 20-25% + VAT to buy your item, making a total of 42-48% of the value of the item paid out in fees.

For example, we would not even accept a standard gold sovereign with a non-rare date, nor a non-rare mint, for auction as this is never in the consignor's best interests. However, some pieces of jewellery by the likes of Garrard & Co, Tiffany, and Van Cleef, silverwares by Omar Ramsden, Paul Storr, and Hester Bateman are highly collectable and their appeal is way beyond their intrinsic value. The viability of gold and silver items for auction needs to be assessed in person.