Fine Gold (999)
Also: 999 Gold, 24 Karat, .999 Fine Gold, 9999 Gold
Fine gold denotes gold with a fineness of at least 999 thousandths (999 ‰), i.e. a purity of 99.9 per cent or higher.
Fine gold is the purest commercially traded form of gold and forms the basis for all price quotations on the world market. The gold price is always quoted in US dollars per troy ounce of fine gold – regardless of whether an investor acquires bars, coins, or a security. Anyone wishing to determine the actual material value of a gold object first needs the fineness and can then use it in the melt value calculator.
What Does "999" Mean as a Fineness?
The four-digit stamp 999 (or 999.9) stands for thousandths of pure gold in the total weight:
Fine Weight = Gross Weight × (Fineness ‰ ÷ 1000)
Example: 31.103 g (1 troy ounce) × (999 ÷ 1000) = 31.072 g pure gold
In practice, the market distinguishes two grades:
| Stamp | Purity | Designation | Typical Products |
|---|---|---|---|
| 999 | ≥ 99.9 % | Three Nines / Fine Gold | Standard bars, many bullion coins |
| 999.9 | ≥ 99.99 % | Four Nines | Investment coins (Maple Leaf, Philharmonic), kilo bars |
| 999.99 | ≥ 99.999 % | Five Nines | Specialist bars for laboratories and the semiconductor industry |
The LBMA Good Delivery standard for wholesale bars (400-ounce bars on the London market) requires at least 995 ‰ – fine gold comfortably exceeds this requirement.
Why Is Fine Gold So Soft?
Pure gold is one of the most ductile metals in existence: one gram can be drawn into a wire approximately two kilometres long or hammered into a sheet of about one square metre. Its Mohs hardness is only 2.5 – a fingernail (Mohs hardness ~2.5) already leaves scratches. In jewellery manufacturing, gold is therefore almost never used as fine gold, but alloyed with copper, silver, or palladium (→ 585 gold, 750 gold). For investment products, the softness is not a disadvantage as long as the coins or bars are stored appropriately.
Investment Gold: Special Tax Status
In Germany – and across the EU – fine gold in the form of investment bullion enjoys a VAT exemption pursuant to § 25c UStG (implemented from EU Directive 1998/80/EC). The requirements are:
- Gold bars or wafers with a fineness of at least 995 ‰
- Weight of at least 1 gram
- Coins with fineness ≥ 900 ‰, minted after 1800 that are or were legal tender
Since fine gold (999 ‰) far exceeds these thresholds, all common investment bars and bullion coins made of fine gold are VAT-exempt. Note: This is not tax advice; please consult a tax adviser for individual questions.
Typical Fine Gold Products
Bars are the classic form: the range extends from 1-gram credit card bars to the 12.5-kilogram wholesale bar. Cast bars (recognisable by their rough surface) and minted bars (mirror-smooth faces, sharper edges) both attain 999.9 ‰. Leading refineries such as Heraeus, Umicore, PAMP Suisse, and Valcambi equip their products with an assay certificate and a serial number.
Coins made of fine gold have established themselves as an important investment form since the 1970s:
- Maple Leaf (Canada, since 1979): 999.9 ‰, special edition 99999 (five nines)
- Vienna Philharmonic (Austria, since 1989): 999.9 ‰, best-selling gold coin in Europe
- American Buffalo (USA, since 2006): 999.9 ‰, first US fine gold coin
- Kangaroo/Nugget (Australia, since 1986): 999.9 ‰, changing design each year
The Krugerrand (South Africa, since 1967), by contrast, contains 91.67 % gold (916.7 ‰ = 22 karat) – it is not fine gold, but contains – despite a higher gross weight of around 33.93 g – exactly 1 troy ounce of pure gold.
Testing and Authenticity
Fine gold can be verified in various ways:
- Hallmark check: Stamp 999 or 9999, possibly combined with maker's mark and serial number
- Density measurement using Archimedes: Fine gold has 19.32 g/cm³ – tungsten at 19.25 g/cm³ is close, but can be reliably distinguished by ultrasound testing or X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF)
- Magnet test: Gold is diamagnetic and not attracted by a magnet; if a piece reacts to magnets, it contains foreign substances
- Ping test: Genuine fine gold coins produce a clear, long-lasting tone
The gold calculator can quickly verify whether the dealer's asking price corresponds to the current spot price.
Fineness vs. Karat: The Conversion
The karat value (gold jewellery) and the per-mille stamp (bars/coins) describe the same thing in different systems:
| Karat | Fineness ‰ | Purity % |
|---|---|---|
| 24 kt | 999 – 999.9 | 99.9 – 99.99 |
| 22 kt | 916.7 | 91.67 |
| 18 kt | 750 | 75.00 |
| 14 kt | 585 | 58.50 |
| 8 kt | 333 | 33.30 |
Fine gold therefore always corresponds to 24 karat – theoretically 24 karat could also mean 999.999 ‰, since karat is a fractional representation (24/24). In commercial practice, 24 karat = 999 ‰ or better.
In Brief
Fine gold (999) is the purest regularly traded gold, forms the basis of all world market prices, and enjoys VAT exemption in Germany as investment gold. Anyone buying or selling bars or coins made of fine gold should always have the current gold price and the melt value calculator to hand in order to assess premiums realistically.