Ounce of gold or troy ounce of gold – What is the difference?

How can you tell an ounce from a troy ounce? Why do such weight measures even exist? What distinguishes the fine weight from the rough weight?

In this article, we provide answers to these questions.

What exactly does troy ounce mean?

1 troy ounce = 31.1034769 grams

Today, the troy ounce is the internationally standardized weight measure for precious metals. Precious metals are priced in this unit of weight in dollars. In addition, the troy ounce is very popular as a trading unit. Especially for bullion coins, the troy ounce is considered the classic weight measure.

What exactly does ounce mean?

The ounce (abbreviation: oz) is a general term for an ancient, non-metric measure of weight that can be interpreted differently depending on the era or culture. So there is no such thing as “the” ounce. Originally, this weight measure comes from antiquity. For the Romans, it was 27.2875 grams. After that, the ounce was used in many regions and for different purposes, sometimes with different weights, for example, to weigh grain, as an apothecary ounce, or as a liquid ounce for perfumes.

The “common ounce” is still occasionally used today as a unit of weight for food in English-speaking countries. This is 28.35 grams.

What is the difference between ounce and troy ounce?

In the precious metals trade, the term “ounce” is often used for the fine ounce. However, this always refers to the unit of weight 31.1034768 grams.

The most popular gold coin for decades with a fine weight of 1 ounce is the Krugerrand. It is also available for purchase, as well as other bullion coins, as 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce, 1/10 ounce.

Units of ounces are also available for precious metal bars. However, specifications in grams or kilograms are more common here. In fact, only the 1 ounce gold bar has established itself in the market.

The 400-ounce gold bars, also known as “Good Delivery” bars, play a major role. This corresponds to almost 12.5 kg of pure gold. A value that is probably affordable for very few private investors. Also important in silver are the 1000-ounce silver bars. But with the equivalent of more than 31 kg, these are already quite heavy.

Where is the best place to buy 1 ounce of gold?

Germany’s largest comparison portals for precious metals are: Gold.de and Gold-Preisvergleich.de. There you can compare prices, products and merchant reviews and choose the most tempting offer and then switch to the desired merchant.

Difference troy ounce – fineness

The troy ounce is an absolute measure of weight, i.e. an indication in grams. The fineness, on the other hand, is a relative measure of weight and denotes the proportion of pure precious metal in a given total weight, expressed in parts per thousand. Examples of such per mil indications: 333 gold, 585 gold or 999 gold. The latter would be practically pure gold, since this specimen, consists of 99.9% pure gold.

Rough weight and fine weight

The rough weight describes the total weight of an alloy in the case of precious metals. In contrast, the fine weight describes the pure proportion of the most valuable precious metal , expressed in grams or troy ounces.

The figures in troy ounces refer exclusively to pure precious metals. For example, the 1 oz Krugerrand contains exactly 1 ounce of pure gold, or 31.1034768 grams. However, the total weight is higher. This is because about 2.83 grams of copper are added to the Krugerrand.

So the Krugerrand is a gold alloy. For this reason, the rough weight is higher than the weight of the fine ounce of gold it contains. The total weight of the Krugerrand is about 33.93 grams. However, the 2.83 grams of added copper are practically irrelevant to the price.

So gold coins can have different gold content, up to 999.9 per mil, which is practically pure gold. So, only for gold coins of 999.9: 1 ounce of gold = total weight of the coin. However, 999.9 coins are sensitive to scratches because pure gold is very soft.

More information

Do you still have questions about the ounce, troy ounce, purity of gold? Then please feel free to contact us and use our contact form. We are always happy to exchange ideas with our customers.