Vacuum tubes

Check the brand before you scrap anything. A Telefunken (diamond moulded into the bottom glass), Mullard (factory code etched near the base), Amperex globe logo, Western Electric, GE black-plate or Tung-Sol can be worth $50–500 while its metal content is worth cents.

Au 0.1–0.5 g/lb (gold-pin types)Ag traceBase nickel plates

eBay typical$5–20per lb

Refiner pays$3per lb

Metal in it$39.5per lb at 4 Aug 2026 spot

Confidencelowof the yield figures

How to spot it

Glass envelope with a pin base (octal, 9-pin noval, 7-pin miniature, or a big ceramic base on transmitting tubes), internal plate structure, and a silvery getter mirror on the glass. Type printed on the glass: 12AX7, EL34, 6L6GC, 811A.

Metal content

Metal	Quantity	Notes
Gold	0.1–0.5 g/lb (gold-pin types)	~1–5 mg per tube
Silver	trace	getter flash
Base metal	nickel plates, molybdenum

At 4 Aug 2026 spot prices that works out to $39.5 per pound of contained metal — Gold 0.3 g = $39.2, Silver 0.2 g = $0.38. A refiner paying $3 returns about 8% of that, which is normal: refining costs money and the buyer takes a margin.

Safe removal

Don't. Sell them as tubes.

Hazards

🌡 Mercury

NEVER vacuum a mercury spill — it aerosolises it. Use a mercury spill kit or sulphur powder, or call your local hazmat line.

🩹 Glass and sharps

NEVER blow on, wipe with bare fingers, or brush away cut optical fibre.

☣ Beryllium oxide (BeO)

NEVER grind, sand, file, saw, drill, abrasive-cut, sandblast, hammer, crush, shred, torch, melt or incinerate anything that might contain BeO. Sell or dispose of suspect parts intact. Broken beryllium parts are worth nothing; your lungs are worth everything.

Before you scrap it

The biggest value trap on this whole list. Collectible and working tubes are worth 10–1,000× their metal. Mercury-vapour rectifiers (866A, 83, 3B28) contain liquid mercury — do not break these. Large transmitting tubes may use thoriated tungsten filaments and BeO ceramic.

The common trap

"Gold grid" in marketing usually means gold-plated grid wire support, not solid gold.

Questions

How much gold is in vacuum tubes?

Gold: 0.1–0.5 g/lb (gold-pin types). Silver: trace. At current spot that is about $39.5 of contained metal per pound.

How do you identify vacuum tubes?

Check the brand before you scrap anything. A Telefunken (diamond moulded into the bottom glass), Mullard (factory code etched near the base), Amperex globe logo, Western Electric, GE black-plate or Tung-Sol can be worth $50–500 while its metal content is worth cents.

How do you remove vacuum tubes safely?

Don't. Sell them as tubes.

Is vacuum tubes worth more working than as scrap?

The biggest value trap on this whole list. Collectible and working tubes are worth 10–1,000× their metal. Mercury-vapour rectifiers (866A, 83, 3B28) contain liquid mercury — do not break these. Large transmitting tubes may use thoriated tungsten filaments and BeO ceramic.

Related in RF, power & vintage

RF power transistors ☣ RF, power & vintage · $60–200/lb Au 0.5–2 g/lbBase Kovar A Gold-plated hermetic transistors (TO-3/TO-5/TO-18) RF, power & vintage · $40–120/lb Au 0.5–2 g/lbBase Kovar B Klystrons & Travelling-Wave Tubes RF, power & vintage · $3–40/lb Cu ~250 g/lb (0.35–0.75 lb Cu per lb of tube)Au ~0.5–4 g per tubeAg 2–30 g per tube C Chip antennas (LTCC ceramic) RF, power & vintage · $20–120/lb Ag 6–18 g/lb D CRT flyback transformers & deflection yokes ☠ RF, power & vintage · $0.5–1.5/lb Cu 150–400 g per yokeBase ferrite core D Magnetron ☣☣ RF, power & vintage · $1–4/lb Ag 0.5–2 g per magnetronCu 200–400 g per unitBase ferrite magnets D

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