What an American Gold Eagle is made of
A one-ounce American Gold Eagle contains one troy ounce of gold inside a 22-karat coin. The extra weight is copper…
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What a double eagle is
A double eagle is a United States $20 gold coin — Liberty Head or Saint-Gaudens — with 0.9675 troy ounces…
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What a bid is and what an ask is
Bid is what a buyer will pay. Ask is what a seller wants. A shop’s buy price is a bid.…
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What “.999 fine” on a bar actually guarantees (and what it doesn’t)
The stamp is the refiner saying 99.9% pure. It is not a police escort. We still weigh it, measure it,…
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What a planchet is (and why error collectors care)
A planchet is the blank piece of metal a mint strikes into a coin. Wrong planchets and clipped planchets are…
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What fineness means (.999, .9999, .900, .925)
Fineness is parts per thousand of pure metal. .999 is 99.9% pure. .900 is 90%. Jewelry karat is the same…
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What a troy ounce is (the unit gold and silver actually use)
A troy ounce is 31.1035 grams. It is the unit for gold, silver, and platinum. It is heavier than a…
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What an authorized purchaser is (US Mint bullion)
The Mint does not sell bullion Eagles one at a time to the public. It sells them in large lots…
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What a dollar is
A dollar is the unit the United States uses to count money. It is not a piece of silver anymore.…
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