Everyone, whether they’re looking to buy gold or sell gold, can benefit from understanding the answer to the question ‘what is gold 375?’. Whether you’re interested in gold bars, gold coins or gold jewellery, it’s important to know what the true value of an investment is.
As well as the live market gold price, the weight and purity of your gold will determine how much it is worth. There’s a good chance that your gold product will be inscribed with a hallmark to prove its purity, and thus give you a clue how much it could be worth. This is where the 375 comes in.
To fully understand what gold 375 is you need to understand what gold hallmarks are and why they’re important. ‘375’ gold is just one of many different types of hallmarks. Here’s a closer look.
What is gold 375?
If a gold product contains the hallmark ‘375’, that means your gold is 9 karat – or 37.5 per cent pure. The remaining 62.5 per cent of the product is an alloy of different metals, like nickel, copper, or in some cases silver. But in general the other metals used will not be high value.
Thus, when buying or selling gold products the live gold price is applied to the equivalent weight of gold, rather than the overall weight of your product. For example, if the spot price of gold was £950 per troy ounce, and you have one ounce of 9 karat gold, your gold would be roughly worth £356.25.
Why is gold hallmarked?
Buyers and sellers in the gold market need to quickly be able to determine what purity a gold product is, preferably without having to test it. This is where hallmarking comes in.
In Britain, it is a legal requirement for products claiming to include precious metals to be independently assessed and ‘hallmarked’ to prove their purity. In simple terms, a hallmark is a design, writing or pattern that’s etched into the metal itself in order to prove its constituent value.
Traditionally, this has been struck with a punch, but nowadays it tends to be applied by laser.
What hallmarks are legally required?
All precious metals bought and sold in the UK must be ‘assayed’ by one of four offices in the UK. This refers to the process by which gold purity is assessed and a hallmark recorded.
Currently there are three types of hallmarks that are compulsory on sales of all precious metals.
1. The sponsor’s mark
This hallmark is, in short terms, the company that’s selling. More specifically, it is the organisation, be it manufacturer, importer, wholesaler, retailer or an individual who is responsible for selling the gold to be ‘assayed’.
To get your own unique sponsor’s mark, you should register with one of the four British Assay Offices.
2. Precious metal purity
You’ll be able to recognise this one fairly quickly – because it’ll be a three digit number. In some instances, you’ll find it with a decimal point afterwards, depending on the purity of the metal in question.
In this instance, precious metal purity is measured in ‘parts per thousand’. Each number is therefore a fraction of the one thousand, representing the total proportion of precious metal within.
A 750 marking on a gold bar, for instance, is 18 karat gold, roughly 75 per cent pure. 916 is roughly 91.6 per cent pure, constituting 22 karat gold, and so on.
The one that most investors will be interested in is that elusive 999 figure – which is among the purest metal you’re likely to find anywhere. Any figure over 990, or 99 per cent, will be considered 24 karat – though there are variations within the last tiny one per cent.
Most of the precious metal bars on our website are marked at 999.9 purity, making them 99.99 per cent pure. This is the minimum standard at which gold bullion can be considered ‘fine gold’.
3. The Assay Office mark
The final compulsory image you’re likely to find on a gold product is the logo of the Assay Office at which its purity was assessed. As previously mentioned, there are four of these in the UK, in London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh.
What’s the highest gold hallmark?
The purest gold ever known to have been recorded goes up to 999.999 purity, or 99.9999 per cent – which was produced by the Perth Mint in 1957 and assayed by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in London. You’re unlikely to find that on any hallmark any time soon however, since it’s never been commercially released.
Instead, the purest commercially released gold was minted by the Royal Canadian Mint, at 99.999 per cent pure. Special commemorative versions of their well-known Maple Leaf gold coin are minted to this purity.
Gold bullion products you can trust
If you’re looking to buy gold bars and buy gold coins, whether for investment, trading or commemorative purposes, you’ll want to ensure that your gold adheres to these standards. That’s because when you come to sell the gold you’ll need to be able to verify its purity and other credentials in order to demand the best possible price.
When you make your gold investment with the Gold Bullion Company, you can rest assured that we only deal in gold that has been officially hallmarked.
Browse through our entire collection of gold and silver products today and find a purchase that fits your requirements.
