Questions About Gold

What does “carded” mean?

The bar is sealed in a tamper-evident plastic card, usually with a serial number and an assay certificate printed on it. The card is part of the product: it proves the bar's weight and purity and makes it easy to resell. A carded bar that has been cut out of its packaging is generally worth less, so leave it sealed.

What does “in assay” mean?

An assay is a formal test certifying a bar's metal content and purity. “In assay” means the bar comes sealed with that certificate from the refiner — effectively the same idea as carded, and the terms are often used interchangeably. The certificate, the serial number and the sealed packaging together are what let the next buyer accept the bar without testing it themselves.

What does “BU” mean?

Brilliant Uncirculated. The coin has never been released into circulation and shows no wear. It is the normal condition for bullion coins bought for their metal content.

What is a proof coin?

A proof is struck multiple times with polished dies to produce a mirror finish, made for collectors rather than investors. Proofs carry considerably higher premiums that reflect collectibility rather than metal, and those premiums do not necessarily hold. If you are buying gold for the gold, bullion strikes are usually the better value.

What does “sealed” mean on a coin?

The coin remains in the mint's original plastic sleeve or tube. As with carded bars, intact packaging supports resale.

Cast bar or minted bar — what is the difference?

A cast bar is made by pouring molten gold into a mold, so it has a rougher, more irregular surface. A minted bar is cut from a rolled sheet and struck, giving sharp edges and a polished face. Both contain the same gold. Cast bars usually cost slightly less; minted bars are more often carded.

What does fineness mean? What is .9999 versus 22 karat?

Fineness is purity. .9999 means 99.99% pure gold. 22 karat means 22 parts gold in 24, or 91.67% pure — the rest is copper and silver, added for hardness so the coin resists scratching. American Gold Eagles and Krugerrands are 22 karat; Maple Leafs and Buffalos are .9999. There is a chart of every common karat on our Learn page.

Critically, this does not mean a 22 karat coin contains less gold. A one-ounce Gold Eagle contains a full troy ounce of gold — the coin simply weighs more than an ounce in total, because of the alloy.

What is a troy ounce?

The unit precious metals are weighed in. One troy ounce is 31.1035 grams — about 10% heavier than the ordinary ounce used for groceries. Every weight on this site is troy.

What is melt value?

The value of the raw metal in an item: its gold content multiplied by spot. It is the floor under what you own. We will not list an item below its melt value.

How do premiums compare between bullion and gold jewelry?

They are not in the same range, and the gap is the most useful thing to understand before buying either.

A bullion coin or bar carries a premium of a few percent over its metal value. Its only job is to hold gold in a form people recognize, it is struck in enormous numbers to a fixed standard, and nothing about it is designed. Gold jewelry carries a far larger premium, frequently a multiple of the metal inside it, because the price covers design, fabrication, finishing, stone setting, brand and retail margin. On many pieces the gold is a minority of the ticket.

How the two are sold differs as well, and it is easy to get caught out. Bullion is sold by its gold content: a one-ounce Gold Eagle is 22 karat yet contains a full troy ounce of gold, with the alloy added on top, as above. Jewelry is sold by its gross weight, and the karat mark tells you what fraction of that weight is actually gold. A ten-gram 14 karat chain holds about 5.8 grams of gold, not ten.

Where it matters most is on the way out. When you sell, you are paid for the metal, not for the work that shaped it. On a bullion coin that means giving up a premium of a few percent. On a piece of jewelry it can mean giving up most of what you paid, because the design premium does not survive the transaction.

None of which is an argument against jewelry. It is an argument for knowing which of the two you are buying. Jewelry is bought to be worn, and that is a perfectly good reason to buy it. Bullion is bought to hold metal at the smallest practical markup. The expensive mistake is buying one while believing you are getting the other. There is a fuller breakdown of where value comes from on our Learn page. It is also why the chains we will sell are plain, common patterns rather than designer pieces: on those, the gap between what you pay and what the metal is worth is about as small as jewelry gets.

Why do some coins have an odd gold weight?

Historic coins were struck to a face value and a legal standard, not to a round metal weight. A $20 Saint-Gaudens contains 0.9675 troy ounces. A British Sovereign contains 0.2354. A Mexican 50 Peso contains 1.2057. These are not errors — they are what the coins have always been.

What does “graded” or NGC / PCGS mean?

Independent grading services seal a coin in a tamper-evident holder with a numeric condition grade and a certification number. Grading matters for collectible coins, where condition drives value. For bullion bought by weight it matters much less, and the grading premium is an additional cost.

Why does a listing say “Year Varies”?

For bullion bought by metal content, the year is not priced differently, so we ship from current stock. You will receive a coin of that type in the stated condition, but not necessarily a specific year.

Do the photographs show the exact item I will receive?

No. Product photography is representative. Serial numbers, assay certificate numbers, certification numbers and mint years on the item you receive may differ from those shown. Where a product is graded, the holder and certification number will vary. The weight, purity and condition will match the listing.

Are you going to sell jewelry?

Yes — solid-gold chains and bracelets, shortly. Common patterns: Franco, rope, Cuban and the like. That is the point of them. Nobody owns those styles and any competent workshop can make them, so there is no designer name in the price — only the gold and the labor to work it. Solid gold throughout, never plated or gold-filled, with the karat and the gram weight stated on every listing.

It will be priced the way everything else here is priced. The metal is valued from the live spot price, and the making charge is shown separately on top, so you can see what the gold in a chain is worth and what the work cost, rather than one number that hides both. As far as we know nobody else in this trade publishes jewelry that way, which is reason enough to do it.

What jewelry will not be is an investment product, and we will not market it as one. A chain is bought to be worn. If your aim is to hold gold at the smallest possible markup, a coin or a bar does that better, and we will keep saying so on the same page we are selling you a chain.

Will jewelry be IRA-eligible?

No. A precious-metals retirement account may only hold bullion meeting a fineness standard, and jewelry does not qualify whatever its karat.

What karat will it be?

Pure gold is too soft to wear, so jewelry is alloyed for hardness. The karat mark tells you what proportion is gold — 18 karat is 75%, 14 karat is 58.3%, 10 karat is 41.7%. The full chart, including what the alloy does to the color, is on our Learn page. Each listing will state its karat and its gram weight, which is everything you need to work out the metal value yourself.

What does IRA-eligible mean?

Items marked IRA-eligible meet the metal fineness standard referenced in IRC §408(m)(3) for precious-metals IRAs. Eligibility also depends on the metal being held by a qualified IRA trustee or custodian — metal delivered to you personally does not qualify. We are stating a product fact, not giving tax advice. Confirm with your custodian and your tax advisor before buying for a retirement account.