Gold Buying Dictionary

 

Gold Buying Dictionary

Gold Buyer Concepts, Terms and Definitions

 

  • Assay:
  • Fineness:
  • Nominal Fineness:
  • Effective Fineness:
  • Gold:  The metal gold in its most pure state.  Element 79 in the Periodic Table.  The traditional standard is 24K.  The LBMA standard is no less than 995 parts per 1000 pure.  The current scientific standard is 9999 parts per 10,000.  Element 79 in the Periodic Table
  • Gold Bearing Alloy:  Any metal alloy which is partly composed of gold.
  • Gold Ore:  Naturally occurring mineral or material in which the metal gold is present in any predictable amount.  Another name for it is “pay dirt”
  • Karat Gold:   Any gold-bearing alloy of above 6 Karat fineness, if processed.  If unprocessed, for example, gold nuggets, there is minimal non-metal mass
  • Karat Lot:  Any mass mixed items, made of gold-bearing alloy,  to be refined together
  • Raw Gold: Any naturally occurring, unprocessed gold-bearing alloy.  Nuggets, gold flakes, etc, are types of raw gold
  • Pre-Melt Mass:  The mass of a karat lot prior to melting into single, monolithic, uniform, gold-bearing alloy piece.  This may include all kinds of non-metal elements such as pearls, stones, dirt, etc.
  • Post-Melt Mass: The mass of a karat lot after melting into single, monolithic, uniform, gold-bearing alloy piece.  This is a monolithic single piece only composed only gold-bearing alloy.  Thus, generally speaking, the same karat lot is of lower post-melt weight than pre-melt weight.  At melting, all non-metal has been removed.
  • Silver:
  • Palladium
  • Platinum
  • Sterling, 925