Monday, 5 December 2011

Calculating the purity of one ounce of gold

By Annette Rose


There is a difference between one troy ounce of gold and the ordinary ounce. The former is a form of measurement used in the commodities market. It is used to denote the spot price of gold and other precious metals and is usually mentioned as an ounce of gold. This should also be taken to mean one troy ounce of gold, as it is the official term.

There is another measurement, known as the avoirdupois ounce, which is commonly used in scales in groceries for measuring everyday goods. The difference arises because of a difference in the weight of the two measures used. One troy ounce of gold is known to have about 31 grams of gold in it, but the ordinary ounce contains only 28 grams in it.

One troy ounce of gold is the measurement used all over the world for precious metals and is used for quoting the spot price. If you are working out the ounce of gold worth in a piece of gold that you wish to sell, you should be careful which ounce you are working with. It is easy to convert from troy ounce to avoirdupois ounce and vice versa.

If you are trying to find out the ounce of gold worth in your jewelry, you will need to know the number of troy ounces in the gold as well as the purity of the gold item. The ounce of gold worth in any item is usually denoted by a small mark inscribed on the item, which can be in the form of a carat mark or even a hallmark or a fineness mark. If one troy ounce of gold is marked as 24 carat, it means that the ounce of gold worth is 99.9% pure. This is also known as fine gold.

The symbol can be in the form of ct or kt or simply k. If the printed number is 14k or 18k, for instance, then the ounce of gold worth can be found out by multiplying the weight by 14/24 or 18/24 as the case may be.




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