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In this work, we develop an effective and efficient method for the preparation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). In this method, we used acetylsalicylic acid named aspirin (Asp) as a reducing agent. However, there is no need for any stabiliser to stabilise the reaction. The prepared nanoparticles were characterised by using FT-IR, UV-Visible, AFM, and XRD. These Asp-AuNPs nanoparticles were applied for the sensitive and selective determination of silver ions (Ag+). The estimated average size of gold nanoparticles was 33 nm. The sensor responds in the linear range of 0.002–0.015 µM. The sensor response towards other metals i.e. Li+, Cu2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Pb2+, Zn2+, Fe2+, Cr3+ and As3+was obtained negligible. The limit of detection (LOD) of the prepared sensor was found up to 0.046 nM. The prepared colorimetric sensor was effectively applied to determine Ag+ ions in real water samples obtained from jewellery shops from different places of Hyderabad, Sindh Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]