Facts about Units of Weight and Measurement for the Placer Gold Miner

Since the base value of placer gold is determined by it’s weight, it’s important to know a few things about weights and measures. Most prospectors weigh their gold even if they never plan to sell it. It’s nice to have an idea of the basic value of the gold you find. To that end, here are some useful units of weight and measurement for the gold prospector

Gold is normally measured in ounces Troy. The abbreviation is ozt.

An ounce troy weighs a bit more than a standard ounce, 1.097 to be precise and 12 troy ounces make up a troy pound.

When you see the spot price of gold they are referring to the price of one ounce of gold troy.

Often, smaller amounts of nugget gold and fine gold are measured in grams.

There are 31.107463 grams in one troy ounce of gold. Call it 31.1 grams per troy ounce. So, if you have a nugget that weighs 7.775 grams, then you have a quarter ounce nugget. 15.55 makes a 1/2 ounce nugget and so on. Just take 31.1 and divide it by the weight in grams and you have your troy ounce figure. The abbreviation for a gram is grm.

Another popular weight measurement for nuggets and fines is the pennyweight. There are 20 pennyweights in a troy ounce and each pennyweight equals 1.55 grams. The abbreviation for a pennyweight is dwt.

Sometimes smaller amounts of gold are found and it’s useful to measure the gold in grains. There are 480 grains in a troy ounce, 15.4324 grains in a gram and 24 grains in a pennyweight. The abbreviation for grains is gn.