The purity of gold has always been defined by the term karat, which is 1/24 part of pure gold by weight. Pure gold is equivalent to 24k. In Europe gold purity is described by by its fineness, which is the amount of pure gold in parts per 1000. For example, a gold coin containing 583 fine gold has 583 parts (58.3%) gold and 417 parts (41.7%) of other base metals.
Today's gold price on the NY spot market:
Due to the softness of pure (24k) gold, it is usually alloyed with base metals for use in jewelry, altering its hardness, ductility, melting point and color. Alloys with lower purity (22k, 18k, 14k or 10k) contain higher percentages of copper, or other base metals or silver or palladium in the alloy. Using copper as the base metal most common.
In the United States FTC rules require that all jewelry items sold as gold be described by "a correct designation of the karat fineness of the alloy". No jewelry item less than 10k may be sold in the United States as gold jewelry.
Parts Gold: 24/24
Gold percentage: 100%
USA markings: 24k
European Markings: 1000 or 999
Demand for gold in 2009 has been dominated by financial investors, which might even reach almost 25% of total demand. The bulk of gold demand remains with jewelry, which should be slightly above 50% in
2009. Overall, gold demand should come in at 3,900 tons. Almost 60% comes from mining and the rest (around 30%) is primarily from old gold (scrap) supply. Mining supply has been on the decline by
around -0.5% per annum over the last five years. This trend is likely to continue in aging mines.
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