What does Gold Carat mean?

The term “Carat” (spelt Karat in US English) is a way of measuring the amount of fine Gold content in a coin, bullion bar or item of jewellery. It is often abbreviated to “ct”, especially for jewellery items.

The term originated from the 19th Century German Gold coin called a “Mark” which weighed 24 carats. This was the same measurement used to weigh precious gem stones. But as Gold is a soft, pliable metal, it was not possible at the time to produce coins in pure Gold. This lead to other metals, such as Copper, being added during the minting process which had the benefit of hardening the coin, meaning it was more durable. From this point, the term carat represented the percentage of fine Gold content.

How do I work out the Gold content?

One Gold Carat is equal to one part fine Gold content to 24 parts other metals, or 4.1667% of the whole item. You will have heard of 9ct or 22ct Jewellery, each of which will contain at least 37.50% and 91.667% of fine Gold content respectively. High purity items, such as 24ct bullion bars, will have a minimum acceptable fineness of 99.50% in accordance to with the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) specifications.

All of our 24ct Gold Bullion items are certified to a higher purity than the LBMA standard, with at least 99.9% Fine Gold Content.

For more information about Gold carat, please see UKBullion.com.