Glossary
Actual Gold Content - The amount of gold that exists in the item with the weight of the alloying metals subtracted.
Assay - An analysis of a metal which is done in order to determine its purity.
Britannia Silver - An alloy of silver which contains 95.84% silver.
Bullion – Gold coins/bars which are .995 fine (99.5% pure) or higher.
Bullion Coin – Coins struck at a fast rate with a focus on efficiency & as such have a similar finish to circulating coins. They are not intended to highlight the coins design or craftsmanship and are generally brought as a store of value due to their precious metal content.
Brilliant Uncirculated - Coins produced to a higher standard then circulated or bullion coins. The dies used to strike the coins are polished and finished by hand and given a consistent polished finish. BU coins offer a good level of design detailing but have lower definition compared with Proof coins.
Carat - A measurement of weight which is generally used in reference to gems.
CGT Free - Capital Gains Tax Free
Commemoratives - Legal tender coins or medallions minted to commemorate themes, events, places, or people.
Face Value - The legal monetary value printed/written/stamped on the face of a currency.
Field - The open area or background of the coins design.
Fine Gold - Pure gold, 24 karat, or .999 fine gold.
Fine Silver – Pure Silver or 99.9% silver
Fine Weight – The amount of gold that exists in the item with the weight of the alloying metals subtracted.
Fineness - The purity of a precious metal; commonly expressed in parts per thousand e.g. .999
Grading Service - A company that grades numismatic coins.
Hallmark – Marks which are struck on items made of precious metals. A UK hallmark will indicate; the type of metal, its fineness, commonly the maker/sponsor, and the year it was hallmarked.
Karat - A measure of gold fineness or purity. Pure gold is considered to be 24 karat.
Legal Tender - A medium of payment recognised by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation.
Medallion - A round piece of metal resembling a coin but not considered Government issued legal tender.
Milk Spots - Small white marks that appear on some coins. These are nothing to worry about and have no impact on the value of the coin. These marks tend to show on Bullion coins and consensus seems to be that they are caused by the polishing agents used by the mints.
Mint Mark - A letter or symbol stamped on a coin to identify the mint where it was struck.
NGC - Acronym for Numismatic Guaranty Corporation of America
Numismatic coins - Coins where their price depends more on their rarity, condition, dates, and mint marks rather than their gold or silver content.
Obverse - The front of a coin. Typically the image of one or more people.
PCGS - Acronym for Professional Coin Grading Service
Premium - The additional cost of bullion over and above the spot gold price.
Pre-Owned Coins - Generally older coins that have been bought by a collector or investor in the past and then sold back to us. As these are used coins, they may feature some small scratches or imperfections above those a new coin from the mint may contain, but still in satisfactory condition for bullion investment.
Proof Coin - High quality detail, sharpness and finish. The dies used to strike proof coins are generally hand finished to ensure that they are of the highest standard. Proof blanks are of a higher quality than BU or Bullion blanks and can be struck up to six times at low speed to ensure a smoother finish with more detail.
Proof Design - A proof coin that has been removed from its box and/or certificate. Coins may have been handled.
Restrike – An officially issued reproduction of a former circulating coin, usually with no numismatic value.
Reverse - The back of a coin. Typically the image of a country’s insignia.
Spot Gold Price – The current price at which gold is being traded. Usually taken from the London spot price.
Troy Ounce - a troy ounce is equal to 31.1034768 grams and differs from the commonly used Avoirdupois ounce (28.34g). The troy weights system is commonly used to measure the mass of precious metals, such as gold, silver.
Uncirculated Coin - A coin that has not been in circulation for use.
