Bullion Glossary

Investing in precious metals means knowing how value is measured, priced, and verified. These terms cover spot prices, weights, and the marks that prove what you're holding.

A

Actual Gold WeightAGW: The true amount of pure gold contained in a coin or item, separate from its total weight including alloys. For example, a one ounce American Gold Eagle weighs more than an ounce overall but has exactly one troy ounce of actual gold.
Actual Silver WeightASW: The amount of pure silver contained in a coin or item, separate from its total weight. It is the key number for valuing older silver coins that contain alloyed metal.
Allocated vs Unallocated: The difference between owning specific, identified bars set aside in your name (allocated) and holding a claim on a shared pool of metal (unallocated). Allocated metal is your direct property, while unallocated metal is a claim against the provider.
American Gold EagleAGE: The official gold bullion coin of the United States, made of 22 karat gold but containing a full troy ounce of pure gold in the one ounce version. It is IRA eligible and widely recognized for easy resale.
American Silver EagleASE: The official silver bullion coin of the United States, containing one troy ounce of .999 fine silver. It is one of the most popular and liquid silver coins in the world.
Ask Price: The price a dealer charges to sell a metal or coin to you, so it is the price you PAY when you buy. It is the higher of the two numbers in a quote and is sometimes called the offer.
Ask/Bid: Two prices a dealer quotes for the same item, and the wording is from the market's point of view, which is what makes it confusing. The bid is what the dealer will pay to buy from you, so it is the price you GET when you sell. The ask is what the dealer charges to sell to you, so it is the price you PAY when you buy. The ask is always higher than the bid, and the gap between them is the spread, which is how the dealer makes money. Quick rule: you sell at the bid, you buy at the ask.
Assay: A test that verifies the purity and metal content of a bar or coin. A certified assay assures buyers that the metal meets its stated fineness.
Assay Card: A sealed package that holds a bar along with a certificate confirming its weight and purity. The tamper evident card helps protect resale value.
Austrian Philharmonic: Austria's official bullion coin, available in gold and silver and featuring a musical theme. The gold version is .9999 fine and is popular across Europe and the US.
Avoirdupois Ounceoz: The standard everyday ounce used for groceries and most goods, equal to about 28.35 grams. It is lighter than the troy ounce used for precious metals, so the two should never be confused when weighing gold or silver.

B

Bar: A rectangular piece of bullion produced in many sizes from one gram up to 400 ounces. Bars are an efficient way to buy metal at lower premiums per ounce.
Bid Price: The price a dealer is willing to pay to buy a metal or coin from you, so it is the price you GET when you sell. It is the lower of the two numbers in a quote.
Bid/Ask: Two prices a dealer quotes for the same item, and the wording is from the market's point of view, which is what makes it confusing. The bid is what the dealer will pay to buy from you, so it is the price you GET when you sell. The ask is what the dealer charges to sell to you, so it is the price you PAY when you buy. The ask is always higher than the bid, and the gap between them is the spread, which is how the dealer makes money. Quick rule: you sell at the bid, you buy at the ask.
Britannia: The United Kingdom's official bullion coin, produced in gold and silver by the Royal Mint. Modern issues are .9999 fine gold or .999 fine silver and carry advanced security features.
Bullion: Precious metal in bulk form such as bars, rounds, and coins that is valued mainly by its metal content and weight. It is bought primarily for investment rather than for rarity.
Buyback: The price or program a dealer offers to repurchase metals they previously sold or that you bring in. A strong buyback price helps you understand your real resale value.

C

Cast Bar: A bar made by pouring molten metal into a mold, giving it a rougher, more rustic appearance. Cast bars often cost slightly less than minted bars of the same weight.
Certificate of AuthenticityCOA: A document from a mint or dealer confirming a product's weight, purity, and genuineness. It can support resale value, especially for limited or graded items.
Coin vs Round: The distinction between a government issued coin that is legal tender and a privately made round that is not. Coins carry a face value and backing, while rounds are valued only for their metal.
COMEX: The primary US futures exchange where gold and silver contracts are traded, part of the CME Group. Its prices heavily influence the spot market that retail buyers follow.
Constitutional Silver: US dimes, quarters, and half dollars minted in 1964 or earlier that contain 90 percent silver. It is another name for junk silver and is valued for its silver content.

D

Depository: A secure, insured facility that stores precious metals on behalf of investors. Depositories are commonly used for IRA metals and large holdings.

E

Exchange Traded FundETF: A fund that trades like a stock and aims to track the price of a metal, letting investors gain exposure without holding physical bars. Most precious metals ETFs represent a paper claim rather than metal you can take delivery of.

F

Fine Gold: Pure gold content within an item, excluding any base metals mixed in for durability. It is the figure that determines the item's true gold value.
Fineness: A measure of how pure a precious metal is, usually expressed as a decimal or parts per thousand. For example, .999 fineness means the item is 99.9 percent pure metal.
Four Nines: A nickname for .9999 fineness, meaning 99.99 percent pure metal. Buyers often see this term on premium gold and silver products.
Fractional Gold: Gold coins or bars sold in sizes smaller than one troy ounce, such as one half, one quarter, or one tenth ounce. They cost less per piece but usually carry higher premiums than full ounce products.

G

Generic vs Branded: The choice between unbranded bullion valued mainly for metal content and recognized brands that carry a small premium for trust and resale ease. Generic products cost less, while branded ones can be easier to sell.
GoldAu: A dense, corrosion resistant precious metal valued for jewelry, coins, and investment. Its chemical symbol is Au and it is the most widely held precious metal for wealth preservation.
Gold Content: The total amount of pure gold in a piece, often listed in troy ounces or grams. It is used to calculate melt value regardless of the item's form.
Gold Maple Leaf: Canada's official gold bullion coin, struck in .9999 fine gold by the Royal Canadian Mint. It is prized for its high purity and is IRA eligible.
Good Delivery Bar: A large bar that meets the strict weight and purity standards set by the LBMA for professional trading, typically around 400 ounces of gold or 1,000 ounces of silver. These bars are mainly held in vaults and depositories.
Graingr: The smallest traditional unit of precious metal weight, with 480 grains in a troy ounce. It is mostly seen in older descriptions and some coin specifications.
Gramg: A metric unit of weight often used for small gold and silver items, with about 31.1 grams in one troy ounce. Many fractional gold bars are sold in gram sizes such as 1, 5, or 10 grams.

H

Hallmark: An official stamp on a metal item indicating its purity, maker, or origin. Hallmarks help verify authenticity and fineness, especially on jewelry and older bars.
Hedge: An investment held to offset potential losses elsewhere, with precious metals often used to guard against inflation or market downturns. Many buyers hold gold and silver as a hedge against a falling dollar.

I

Ingot: Another word for a cast bar of precious metal, often used for larger or older pieces. The term emphasizes that the metal was poured into a mold.
IRA Eligible: A label for bullion products that meet the purity and form requirements to be held in a precious metals retirement account. Most products must be at least .995 fine for gold and .999 fine for silver to qualify.

J

Junk Silver: Common circulated US coins that contain real silver but have no collectible premium beyond their metal value. The word junk refers to the lack of rarity, not the quality of the silver.

K

KaratK: A measure of gold purity in jewelry based on 24 parts, where 24K is pure gold and 14K is 14 parts gold out of 24. In bullion contexts it helps translate jewelry gold into its actual gold content.
Kilokg: Short for kilogram, a unit equal to 1,000 grams or about 32.15 troy ounces. Kilo bars are a popular large format for silver and gold.
Kilo Bar: A bar containing one kilogram of metal, equal to about 32.15 troy ounces. Kilo bars are a cost effective way to buy silver or gold in larger quantities.
Krugerrand: A South African gold bullion coin first minted in 1967 that helped launch modern gold investing. The one ounce version is 22 karat and contains a full troy ounce of gold.

L

London Bullion Market AssociationLBMA: The London based body that sets quality standards for bullion bars and oversees benchmark pricing. Its Good Delivery list defines which refiners meet professional standards.
London Fix: A benchmark price for gold and silver set twice daily in London that the global market uses as a reference point. It is also called the London fixing or LBMA price.

M

Melt Value: The worth of an item based only on the current spot price of the metal it contains, ignoring any collectible or numismatic value. Dealers often use it as the floor price when buying scrap or common bullion.
Millesimal Fineness: A system that states metal purity in parts per thousand, such as 999 for 99.9 percent pure. It is the standard way modern bullion and hallmarks express fineness.
Mint: A facility that manufactures coins, rounds, and bars from precious metals. Mints can be government owned (sovereign) or privately operated.
Minted Bar: A bar cut from a rolled sheet of metal and stamped with sharp designs and details. Minted bars usually have a polished look and sealed packaging.

P

PalladiumPd: A precious metal heavily used in automotive catalytic converters and also available as bullion. Its chemical symbol is Pd and its price can swing sharply with industrial demand.
Paper vs Physical: The difference between owning actual metal you can hold (physical) and owning a contract, fund, or certificate that represents metal (paper). Physical means the bars and coins in your hand, while paper means a financial claim.
PennyweightDWT: A traditional jewelry weight equal to 1.555 grams, with 20 pennyweights in a troy ounce. Many scrap gold buyers price by the pennyweight.
PlatinumPt: A rare precious metal often priced near or above gold, used in jewelry, industry, and bullion. Its chemical symbol is Pt and it is one of the platinum group metals.
Platinum Group MetalsPGM: A family of related rare metals that includes platinum, palladium, rhodium, and a few others. They share similar properties and are used in both industry and investing.
Precious Metals IRA: A self directed retirement account that can hold approved gold, silver, platinum, or palladium products. The metal must meet purity rules and be stored in an approved depository.
Premium: The amount charged above the metal's spot value to cover minting, distribution, and dealer costs. Smaller and more collectible items usually carry higher premiums.
Premium Over Spot: The dollar or percentage amount a product sells for above its raw metal value at the current spot price. It lets you compare the true cost of different coins and bars.
Purity: The proportion of an item that is actual precious metal versus other alloyed metals. Higher purity means more of the item's weight is the valuable metal.

R

Refinery: A facility that purifies raw or scrap metal and casts it into bars and blanks of stated fineness. Trusted refiners on the LBMA Good Delivery list add resale confidence to their products.
Round: A coin shaped disc of bullion produced by a private mint that is not legal tender. Rounds usually carry lower premiums than government coins of the same weight.

S

Serial Number: A unique identifier stamped on many bars to aid tracking and verification. Matching the serial number to its assay card helps confirm authenticity.
Sigma Testing: A method that uses electrical conductivity to verify whether a coin or bar matches the properties of genuine precious metal. Dealers use Sigma devices to screen for counterfeits without damaging the item.
SilverAg: A precious metal used in coins, jewelry, and industry that is more affordable than gold per ounce. Its chemical symbol is Ag and it tends to be more volatile in price than gold.
Silver Maple Leaf: Canada's official silver bullion coin, containing one troy ounce of .9999 fine silver. It is known for its high purity and security features.
Sovereign Coin: A bullion coin produced by a national government mint and backed as legal tender. Examples include the American Eagle, Canadian Maple Leaf, and Austrian Philharmonic.
Sovereign Mint: A mint owned and operated by a national government that produces legal tender bullion coins. Examples include the US Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint, and the Royal Mint.
Specific Gravity Testing: A test that measures an item's density by comparing its weight in air and in water to confirm it matches the known density of the claimed metal. It is a simple, nondestructive way to screen for fakes.
Spot Price: The current market price for one troy ounce of a precious metal for immediate delivery. It is the baseline figure quoted throughout the day that most coin and bullion prices are built on.
Spread: The gap between the bid and ask prices, which represents the dealer's margin. A tighter spread generally means a better deal for the customer.
Sterling Silver: An alloy that is 92.5 percent silver and 7.5 percent other metals, usually copper, marked as .925. It is common in flatware, jewelry, and decorative items rather than pure bullion.
Store of Value: An asset that holds its purchasing power over long periods of time. Gold and silver are considered classic stores of value because they have retained worth for centuries.

T

Tael: A traditional Chinese unit of weight for gold and silver, with the common version equal to about 37.4 grams. Tael bars are widely traded in Asian markets.
Tola: A traditional South Asian unit of weight for gold equal to about 11.66 grams. Tola bars are common in international markets and sometimes appear in US estate inventories.
Troy Ounceozt: The standard unit of weight for precious metals, equal to about 31.103 grams. It is heavier than the everyday ounce used for food and other goods.

U

Ultrasound Testing: A verification method that sends sound waves through a bar to detect hidden flaws or fake cores. It is a nondestructive way to confirm a bar is solid metal throughout.

V

Vaulting: The service of storing precious metals in a professional secured vault, often for a fee. It offers safety and insurance beyond keeping metal at home.

W

War Nickel: A US five cent coin minted from 1942 to 1945 that contains 35 percent silver due to wartime metal shortages. Collectors and stackers seek them out for their silver content.

#

.925: The fineness of sterling silver, meaning 92.5 percent pure silver with the rest usually copper. Most silver flatware and jewelry carry this standard rather than bullion-grade purity.
.999 Fine: A purity of 99.9 percent precious metal, also called three nines fine. It is the common standard for most silver bullion coins and bars.
.9999 Fine: A purity of 99.99 percent precious metal, also called four nines fine. It is the standard for many gold bullion products such as the Canadian Maple Leaf.
100 oz Bar: A silver bar containing 100 troy ounces, a popular size for serious stackers. It offers a low premium per ounce compared with coins.
90% Silver: The silver standard used in most pre-1965 US dimes, quarters, and half dollars, meaning 90 percent of the coin is silver. A face value bag of these coins contains a predictable amount of actual silver.