Glossary of gold and precious metal industry terms
Your go to knowledge base for definitions on metfolio features, the gold price, gold bars, and also gold coins!
Metfolio
Metfolio
Metfolio is the all in one app you can use to invest in physical gold from just £1!
Delivery
Delivery refers to the feature on the Metfolio app, where you can get your gold physically delivered in forms of 50g, 24k Metfolio Bars to your home.
Metfolio Goals
Our favourite feature of the entire Metfolio app! With this feature you can invest in gold automatically every single month from just £1!
Activity
Activity refers to the section of the app where you can view all your transactions, deliveries, and account movements.
Physical Gold
Physical gold refers to 24k, 999.9% pure, LBMA approved gold which you can buy on the Metfolio App. All gold sold on the Metfolio app is of 24k, 999.9% purity.
Account Movements
Account movement refers to the feature on the Metfolio app, where you can move your gold between your physical gold, and goal accounts.
Physical Gold Account
Physical gold account refers to the core account in your Metfolio account. When buying gold on the app, outside of your Goal, it will be stored here.
Gold Price
Gold spot price
The gold spot price refers to the live gold price within the market. This price can provide an indication for how much you can both buy and sell gold at any given point. This price represents one troy ounce of gold.
Ask Price
The ask price refers to the price set by individual dealers, at which they decide to sell gold. For example, someone may be selling gold at a 10% premium to the spot price, hence their 'ask' price is 10% over the spot.
Gold Standard
The gold standard refers to the now unused system of backing the value of currency against the price of gold. With the gold standard, countries were in agreement to convert money into a decided amount of gold, to underpin the value of currency.
Gold fix price
The gold fix price refers to the price which is set twice a day by the LBMA (London Bullion Markets Association). This price is set at a point where the gross number of gold buy orders, match the sell orders, across institutions.
Bid price
The bid price is the complete opposite to the ask price. Bid refers to the price which a dealer is willing to pay for gold. For example, if a dealer offers you 10% below the market rate for your gold, that is their 'bid' price.
Inflation
Inflation refers to the consistent increase in the prices of goods and services in any given economy. For example, as these prices increase, each pound buys less and less. Hence, inflation directly reduces the value of money.
Gold Bars & Coins
Assay
Assay refers to the test conducted on a piece of gold to calculate how pure it is. for example, a piece of 22ct gold is 'Assayed' in order to confirm that it is of 22ct purity.
Alloy
Gold is an unregulated industry, however Metfolio upholds the highest industry standards when it comes to your assets.
We only sell gold which is LBMA approved and 999.9% pure, and no one has access to your gold unless you perform a sell, or deliver action on the app.
Bag mark
Not a very common term, but bag mark refers to the scratches and marks which occur from more than one coin or bar bumping each other within a bag.
Circulation strike
Circulation strike refers to a specific mark on any given coin, which indicates that it is to be circulated as currency.
Die crack
A die crack refers to a line, or break in the design of a coin or bar caused by a broken die
Die variety
a die variety refers to a difference in the original design of a coin.
BU
BU refers to the term, Brilliant Uncirculated. This represents a mint condition coin which has not been circulated.
Canadian maple leaf
Canadian maple leaf coins are coins which are minted by the Canadian Mint. The mint releases a new coin every year. the most popular Canadian maple leaf coin is the 1 ounce, however they can be bought in many sizes.
Double Eagle
A double eagle refers to the coin, produced by the US Mint. It has a face value of 20 usd, and is made of 1 troy ounce of pure gold.
Field
Field refers to the blank area on the face of coins. For example, when a die is pressed on a coin and the design is imprinted, the design does not fill the whole face of the coin, hence the blank area is known as the field.
Fineness
Fineness refers to the purity of any given coin or bar. For example, when we talk about 'karats', in coins and bars, we are referring the amount of fine gold (999.9% pure gold) within the coin or bar.
Gold Eagles
The Gold American Eagle is the official gold bullion coin of the USA. The most popular eagle is the 1 troy ounce eagle, but they can be bought in different sizes.
Grading Service
Grading service refers to the service offered by companies, where they grade the quality of certain gold coins.
Hallmark
A hallmark refers to the mark on a coin or bar which indicates its producer, purity, and metal from which it was made.
Karat
Karat refers to way we measure purity of any given piece of gold. For example a lot of jewellery is 18 karats of gold (75% pure).
Krugerrand
The krugerrand is a gold coin produced by the South African mint, it is of 22ct purity and is one of the most popular investments when it comes to gold
Lustre
Lustre refers to the shine on the face of a coin or bar. So next time you see a shiny coin, you know it has a great lustre!
Mint Mark
Mint mark refers to the letter or symbol on a coin or bar to trace where it was made and minted.
Nugget
A nugget is a coin which is produced by the Perth Mint, and is an extremely popular investment.
Numismatist
A numismatist is what we call coin collectors and lovers. Who knows, you could be the next one!
Pennyweight
Pennyweight is an American unit of measuring gold. For example each pennyweight is equal to 1/20 of a troy ounce.
Planchet
A planchet is a tool which is used to stamp a design onto a coin or bar. This is used with a die, in order to make the design more profound.
Restrike
A Restrike refers to the process of reproducing a coin which was previously in circulation. Potentially done because there were defects in circulated coins
Uncirculated
Uncirculated refers to a coin which is in mint condition, and has not yet been circulated as legal tender.
Actual metal weight
Actual metal weight refers to the total amount of pure gold within a coin or a bar. For example, if a coin or bar is 30 grams, but is only 90% pure, we can't say that there is 30 grams of pure gold within the piece. We instead have to multiple purity by total weight, so 30 * 0.9, and then we would know the amount pure gold in the coin or bar.
Avoirdupois
The avoirdupois ounce is the troy ounce's sworn nemesis! All jokes aside, the avoirdupois ounce is just another unit of measurement which measures one ounce as 28.35 grams instead of 31.1 grams (troy ounce). This is an important distinction the next time you use the term 'ounce'
Bullion
Bullion refers to a bar of gold which is higher than 99.5% purity. However, LBMA approved bullion is of 999.9% purity.
Die
The die is a piece of metal equipment which is imprinted with the design of any given coin or bar. This die is then pressed onto the gold in order to give it the intended design.
Die defect
a die defect refers to a more significant abnormality within a coin or bar, due to a broken or defective die
Gem
a gem refers to a very high quality, uncirculated coin. At times these can be special edition coins that you can only buy from specific mints.
Bullion coin
Bullion coin refers to a coin that is traded purely at its market value, without any premiums or markups. These coins are typically traded between dealers as scrap gold.
Commemorative
Commemoratives are coins which are minted to signify events, or people. For example, special edition Britannia coins are made to commemorate key moments. These coins can also be legal tender
Face value
Face value refers to gold coins which are also legal tender. For example, the Gold Britannia is minted with £100 written on it, however the gold value of the coin means it is worth much more. But its face value remains £100.
Fine weight
Fine weight refers to the amount of 24kt pure gold within a coin or bar. For example, if a coin is 30 grams, but is only 90% pure gold, then the fine gold weight of the coin would only be 27 grams.
Good Delivery
Good Delivery refers to a guideline of expectations which gold has to meet in order to be sold in certain markets. For example, LBMA authorised bars are known as 'Good Delivery Bars', as they are of 999.9% purity.
Grain
Grain is a unit of measurement for gold. For example, each troy ounce contains 480 grains, hence each grain is worth 0.065 grams
Ingot
ingot refers to a piece of gold which has been cast into a certain shape, coin, or bar form.
Kilo Bar
You guessed it! A kilo bar is literally a gold bar which weighs one kilogram
Legend
the legend refers to an inscription on a coin. For example, 'Britannia' is the written legend on the front of the Britannia coin.
Medallion
A medallion is a round gold ingot which looks like a coin, but it isn't. These are issued by private mints or governments for special occasions.
Mint State
Mint state refers to a coin which has not been circulated as legal currency, hence it is in a 'mint state'.
Numismatic Coins
Numismatic coins refer to coins which are valued not just on the gold content in the coin, but the rarity, date, condition and design of the coin itself.
Obverse
The obverse refers to the front side of a coin which contains the legend and the design.
Proof
A proof is a high quality coin which is produced using dies or planchets to give it a beautiful lustre and finish.
Slabbed Coins
Slabbed coins are those which have been encased in a plastic container to prevent scratches post production.
Symbolic face value
Symbolic face value is the price assigned to coins based on their gold content, rather than their nominated legal tender value. For example, the symbolic face value of the Britannia coin is based on how much 1 ounce of gold is worth, rather than the '£100' written on it.
Sovereign
A sovereign is a coin produced by the Royal mint, and is one of the most popular investments when it comes to gold. It has a face value of £1 and weighs around 8 grams.