Precious metals glossary
The terms of the precious metals trade, plainly defined: fineness, carat, troy ounce, premium, hallmark, refining.
- Fineness — Fineness is the proportion of pure precious metal in an alloy, expressed in thousandths: 750 ‰ means 750 grams of pure gold per 1,000 grams of alloy.
- Carat — For gold, the carat measures fineness in 24 parts: 24 carats = pure gold (999 ‰), 22 carats = 916 ‰, 18 carats = 750 ‰, 14 carats = 585 ‰, 9 carats = 375 ‰.
- Fine gold — Fine gold is the quantity of pure gold contained in an item: gross weight × fineness.
- Troy ounce — The troy ounce is the unit of the precious metals markets: 1 troy ounce = 31.1034768 grams.
- Spot price — The price (or spot price) is the market price of the pure metal, quoted continuously per troy ounce in dollars and converted into euros per gram.
- Premium — The premium is the difference between the price of a coin or bar and the value of the fine gold it contains, expressed as a percentage.
- Bar — A bar is a numbered piece of precious metal of certified fineness produced by a refiner and delivered with its certificate.
- Bullion coin — An investment (bullion) coin is a gold coin struck in large quantities and priced on its fine-gold weight plus a premium: Napoléon 20 francs, Sovereign, Krugerrand, Maple Leaf, Philharmonic, Britannia, 50 Pesos.
- Hallmark — A hallmark is a mark struck on an item to indicate its fineness or maker.
- Gold-plated — Gold-plated, rolled-gold (doublé) and vermeil items are base metal or silver covered with a thin layer of gold: they contain no recoverable quantity of gold and are not bought by gold weight.
- Silver standards — Solid silver is mostly found at 925 ‰ (sterling), 835 ‰ (many Belgian and Dutch coins and cutlery) and 800 ‰ (continental silverware).
- Assay — Assaying is the verification of an item's fineness: touchstone and acids for a first sort, instrumental analysis for a precise measurement.
- Refining — Refining is the chemical or electrolytic process that separates gold or silver from the other metals of an alloy to obtain fine metal (999 ‰ and above).
- Buying grid — The buying grid is the table of per-gram prices published by the house, by fineness (22, 18, 14, 9 carats) and for certain coins and bars, timestamped and updated with the market price.
- VAT on precious metals — Investment gold (bars and coins meeting the legal criteria) is exempt from VAT in the European Union.
- Latin Monetary Union — The Latin Monetary Union (1865-1927) standardised the gold coins of several European countries on the Napoléon model: a 20-unit coin weighs 6.4516 g at 900 ‰, i.e.
- Certificate — The certificate accompanies a bar: serial number, weight, fineness, refiner and assayer's signature.
- Dental gold — Dental gold is an alloy of gold, palladium, platinum and other metals of variable fineness (often 500 to 750 ‰).