The Troy Ounce

When prices are quoted for gold - or other precious metals such as silver or platinum - they're often given in ounces. However with gold prices the ounce in question is more likely to be the troy ounce than the common ounce. The two are significantly different.

What Is A Troy Ounce?

The Troy ounce is a unit of measurement that dates back to medieval times. Although generally superceded by the modern ounce (the avoirdupois ounce) and metric weights, the troy ounce is still retained for use in weighing gold by much of the industry worldwide. Depending on your point of view is either to retain compatibility with historic measurements - or to confuse the average consumer.

Vs Ounce

A troy ounce is not the same as a "normal" ounce, instead it's slightly heavier. One troy ounce is equal to just over 31 grams as opposed to the more normal ounce of just over 28 grams. That's a difference of around ten percent - not a lot when buying groceries, but possibly a large amount when trading in gold!

When comparing prices and buying or selling gold it's essential to make sure you know exactly which unit of measurement is in use and apply any necessary conversion factor between troy ounces and ounces of the more usual variety. The value of gold "per ounce" obviously depends on which type of ounce is being used.

When in doubt, consult an independent expert who you can trust.

Troy Pound

To make things even more complicated, there also used to be a troy pound used by dealers. These are rarely used these days but it's always worth checking which unit you're dealing in.

There are twelve troy ounces in a troy pound, compared to the modern pound of sixteen ordinary ounces. So although the troy ounce is slightly heavier than its modern equivalent, the troy pound works out as lighter than the modern pound.

A cynic might think they were trying to confuse us...