What is a troy ounce? How many grams in a troy ounce of gold? How to convert troy ounces of gold into grams?
In this article we will focus on these topics, analysing the value of an ounce of gold today.
How many grams in a troy ounce of gold?
The Troy ounce is the most used metric for precious metals as well as in modern gold trading. One troy ounce equals 31.1035 grams, so 10 ounces of gold would correspond to about 311 grams.
The troy ounce today
How much is gold worth per ounce? The price of gold constantly fluctuates and is largely driven by market sentiment. If there is more buying interest, the gold price increases. Whereas, when there are more sellers, the price of bullion declines.
Having up-to-date knowledge of the price of one ounce is crucial for investors. Indeed, many derivatives contracts related to gold, such as futures and options, are priced in ounces.
Troy ounce vs ounce
The officially recognised unit for gold is the troy ounce, but while talking about ounces, we should be careful in order to avoid confusion between ounces and troy ounces. A troy ounce is about 10% heavier than the standard ounce used to measure household items, such as sugar. So while a troy ounce equates to 31.1035 grams, an imperial ounce, or avoirdupois ounce to give it its full title, comes in at 28.35 grams.
Previously used by the British Empire, the troy ounce is now the international measurement for the weight of precious metals and gemstones, as well as gunpowder. The word ounce derives from Mediaeval French, which in turn comes from the Latin word ‘uncia’, derived from ‘unu’, meaning one.
The troy measurement system has been in use since the end of the fourteenth century, gaining its name from the French city of Troyes, where it was used in the Middle Ages as a reference for weight measurements at the local town fair. The troy ounce was already in use around 1400 in Britain’s private sector and was also adopted as coinage from 1527.
Understanding the per ounce gold pricing
How can we understand the price of gold per ounce? It is relatively simple. Indeed, if we have the price of gold in dollars per gram, we should multiply this by 31.1035. For example, if the price of gold is $60 per gram, the value of an ounce of gold will be 60 multiplied by 31.1035, which equals $1,866.21.
Let’s now examine that price in different currencies considering that gold is a global commodity featuring in investor portfolios all over the world. To convert the price of gold into other currencies, such as the British pound, the Japanese yen, or the Euro, it is the same initial process (by multiplying the price in dollars per gram by 31.1035) and then converting this with the spot exchange rate.
For example, let us imagine that the price of 1 gram of gold is $60 and the Euro/US dollar exchange rate is 1.05. What will the equivalent price of one gram and one ounce of gold be in Euros? The price of one gram of gold in Euro will be equal to 60 divided by 1.05, equalling €57.14, while the price of one ounce of gold will be equal to 60 multiplied by 31.1035 divided by 1.05, which comes to about €1,777.
How much is an ounce of gold worth?
The next question relates to the real worth of an ounce of gold. Of course, if we are talking about physical gold we should consider the purity of gold, which is measured in carats. This is the most widely used metric for measuring gold purity, where 24 carats represent the highest level of purity.
The most used carat measurements are as follows:
• 8 carats = 333 thousandths per gram
• 12 carats = 500 thousandths per gram
• 14 carats = 585 thousandths per gram
• 18 carats = 750 thousandths per gram
• 22 carats = 916 thousandths per gram
• 24 carats = 999 thousandths per gram
On financial markets, investors are almost always trading gold with very high purity or contracts with bars of gold containing at least 99.9% gold.
What is the price of one ounce of gold today?
To find out the price of one ounce of gold you need to look no further than Kinesis’ wide selection of charts, pulling live data from the physical bullion market.
You can monitor the price of physical gold bullion, aggregated across 6 continents on our live gold price chart.
What is the value of gold today?
Gold has a history dating back centuries. It plays a key role in the financial sector, representing the safe haven at times of market turmoil, while also being used by central banks as a key part of their reserves. The jewellery sector alone uses around 2,000 tonnes of gold.
As for the total available supply of gold, it is finite in the sense that humanity is unable to create or fabricate it which is why gold is often seen as a crucial part of any given financial portfolio. Gold remains to be a valuable asset for numerous reasons, with this reputation likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
Carlo Alberto De Casa is an external Market Analyst for Kinesis Money, responsible for updating the community with insights and analysis on the gold and silver markets. Carlo provides regular commentary for UK notable outlets including the BBC, Telegraph, The Independent, Bloomberg, FX Empire and Reuters.
With a credential background in Economic Finance and International Exchange (MA), his critical analysis on gold and silver’s markets performance is frequently quoted by leading publications, week-on-week.
This publication is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a solicitation, offering or recommendation of any security, commodity, derivative, investment management service or advisory service and is not commodity trading advice. This publication does not intend to provide investment, tax or legal advice on either a general or specific basis.
