Help me understand Gold

[JOe L]

I have been buying silver lately and wanted to buy a small piece of gold. What I don't understand what is a better buy. A tenth oz Eagle or a 5 gram Sunshine Mint bar. Now I understand the weight different ,but I don't understand the carat difference. 22 or 24. I guess the Eagle is 22 and the bar 24. Does 22 carat gold mean its not pure and not the best buy? Thanks, Joe

 

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[jim4silver]

I have been buying silver lately and wanted to buy a small piece of gold. What I don't understand what is a better buy. A tenth oz Eagle or a 5 gram Sunshine Mint bar. Now I understand the weight different ,but I don't understand the carat difference. 22 or 24. I guess the Eagle is 22 and the bar 24. Does 22 carat gold mean its not pure and not the best buy? Thanks, Joe

Joe,

Carat really does not matter. The Eagle will be more durable since it is not pure gold, but since we don't carry gold around to make purchases it doesn't make a difference. All things equal I would rather have the 1/10 ounce Eagle but their premiums are pretty high.

It is true that in some locales, like Asia, they tend to prefer .9999 gold instead of 22 karat or less, but here in the US nobody seems to care one way or the other when you go to sell.

Jim

 

[Terry Soloman]

I have been buying silver lately and wanted to buy a small piece of gold. What I don't understand what is a better buy. A tenth oz Eagle or a 5 gram Sunshine Mint bar. Now I understand the weight different ,but I don't understand the carat difference. 22 or 24. I guess the Eagle is 22 and the bar 24. Does 22 carat gold mean its not pure and not the best buy? Thanks, Joe

Really very simple. The spot price of gold is based on 24karat. When you dilute gold with copper, nickel, tin, or other lesser metals, and lower the Karats, you dilute the value.

How to Calculate Gold Price By Karat & Weight

First, divide the karat (24; 18; 14; 10) by 24. Now multiply that number by today's gold price per gram. So, if you have a five-gram 10K gold ring, and the current price of gold is $1,600.00 per ounce - or $51.45 per gram ($1,600.00 divided by 31.1 grams), then your 10K gold ring is worth $21.44 per gram ($51.45 x .4167), or $107.20.

10k = 10/24 = .4167
14k = 14/24 = .5833
18k = 18/24 = .750
22k = 22/24 = .9167

If you have five- grams of 14K, and gold is $1,600.00 today, then $1,600 divided by 31.1 would equal $51.45. That figure, multiplied by .5833 (14K) comes out to $30.01 per gram. $30.01 x five- grams equals $150.05.

Some gold buyers use pennyweight (DWT) instead of grams. There are 20- pennyweights per troy ounce. Let’s say you want to sell your gold. You know it weighs 25 grams. You go to a pawn shop to see what they will pay, but they use pennyweights, not grams. Here's how to calculate the conversion: 25 grams of gold x 0.643 = 16.1 pennyweights.
Pennyweights to Grams............divide by 1.55517

Grams to Pennyweights............Multiply by 0.643

 

[JOe L]

Thanks gents...pretty much decided on the Eagle or even the Canadian maple leaf. I think for the most part even though its a small,very small investment:-) its more of a ........collectable I can toss in there with my silver eagles.