One of the biggest confusions in the world of gold coin buying occurs when the novice gold bullion owner, decides to pop his treasure onto a little weighing scale..
..
you know the type of balance you have in your kitchen- for measuring out how much of an ingredient to put into the cooking.
Then, the head scratching begins.
Finally, a look of shock and awe appears over his face as he discovers that his purchase doesn't weigh an ounce! Now- the subject which has caused endless confusion among gold bullion coin buyers over the years: "How do you weigh Gold and am I getting what I paid for?" You see, historically gold is weighed in Troy ounces.
Named after Troyes in France.
The system dates back to the middle Ages and is still in use in the Gold bullion coin market today.
Yes, gold is also sold by the gram- and the kilo, but One ounce gold coins- the type most individual bullion buyers purchase, are weighed in Troy ounces.
Cue drum roll-I have some good news for you.
This is one of those areas where the metric system comes in handy for cutting through the confusion: 1 troy ounce weighs 31.
1 grams 1 "ordinary "ounce weighs 28.
34 grams In other words, a Troy ounce is heavier than an "ordinary" ounce, by about 10%.
Yes, you have a tad more gold than you might have expected (isn't it nice when these things work in your favor?).
So, don't fear the mysterious Troy ounce when you are buying your beautiful gold bullion coins.
When you get home, place them on a kitchen balance scales and you will be delighted to see that you are actually getting more gold than you probably anticipated! Till next time, Happy gold coin buying, Paul