Precious Metals Glossary A–Z

The 20 Mark gold coin was a circulating currency coin of the German Empire (1871-1915), struck in 900 fine gold with a fine weight of 7.168 grams. Today it counts as investment gold and can be bought free of VAT.

333 gold is a gold alloy with a fineness of 333 parts per thousand (33.3 %), equivalent to 8 carat, used mainly in the jewellery trade.

375 gold is a gold alloy with a fineness of 375 parts per thousand (37.5 %), known across the English-speaking world as 9 carat gold and used chiefly in jewellery.

585 gold is a gold alloy with a fineness of 585 parts per thousand (58.5 %), matching the international 14 carat standard and widely used in jewellery.

750 gold is a gold alloy with a fineness of 750 per mille (75.0 %), equal to 18 carat, and the most widely used quality in the jewellery and watchmaking industries.

800 silver is a silver alloy with a fineness of 800 parts per thousand (80 %), found above all in European table silver and cutlery.

835 silver is a silver alloy with a fineness of 835 per mille (83.5 %), especially typical of Central European cutlery and jewellery of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

900 gold is a gold alloy with a fineness of 900 per mille (90 %), equivalent to 21.6 carat - a historically important standard for European and American circulating coins.

916 gold is a gold alloy with a fineness of 916.6 parts per thousand (22 carat), used worldwide above all for premium jewellery and bullion coins.

The acid test is a chemical method for gauging the fineness of gold and silver alloys, in which testing acids produce a characteristic colour reaction on the metal surface or on a touchstone.

All-in Sustaining Costs (AISC) are a standardised gold-mining metric that captures the full cost of keeping a mine's current output running over the long term.

Allocated gold is physical gold individually assigned to an owner, held separately, and kept off the custodian's balance sheet.

Allocation is the deliberate division of a portfolio across different asset classes - including precious metals - to strike the desired balance between risk and return.

An alloy is a mixture of a main metal and one or more additional metals (alloying metals) that deliberately possesses altered physical or chemical properties.

An alloying metal is a base or precious metal added to a precious metal in a defined proportion in order to deliberately change its hardness, colour, melting behaviour or other properties.

A historic gold-recovery method in which liquid mercury dissolves gold and silver from ore and binds them as an amalgam, which is then separated by heating.

The American Buffalo is the only official gold coin of the United States with a fineness of 999.9/1000 (24 carat), struck by the United States Mint since 2006.

The American Eagle is the official bullion coin of the United States, struck since 1986 in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, and among the most widely traded investment coins worldwide.

Ireland's anti-money-laundering legislation requires precious metal dealers to identify their customers above set cash thresholds and to report suspicious transactions.

Aqua regia is a highly oxidising acid mixture of concentrated hydrochloric and nitric acid (3:1) and is the only liquid reagent capable of dissolving the noble metals gold and platinum.

Argor-Heraeus is one of the world's leading refineries and precious-metal processors, based in Mendrisio, Switzerland, renowned for the highest purity standards and its Kinebar hologram.

The ask price is the price at which a dealer or market maker sells a precious metal - the lowest price at which a buyer can purchase immediately in the market.

An assay certificate is an authenticity document issued by an accredited testing body that formally confirms the fineness, weight and identity of a precious-metal bar.

A precious-metal bar sealed firmly inside a tamper-evident plastic holder (blister) that carries a printed certificate of authenticity from the refinery.

The atomic number gives the proton count of an element in the periodic table, while the atomic weight (relative atomic mass) describes the average mass of its atoms in atomic mass units.

Münze Österreich AG is Austria's state mint, based in Vienna and issuer of the world-famous Vienna Philharmonic.

The avoirdupois ounce (av. oz) is the mass unit used in everyday Anglo-American commerce, equal to exactly 28.349523125 grams — noticeably different from the troy ounce of 31.1035 grams used in the precious-metals trade.

Backwardation is a market condition in which the spot price of a commodity sits above the forward price — a signal of acute physical scarcity.

The base price is the standardised reference price of a precious metal on which premiums, dealer margins and option contracts are built.

The bid price is the price a dealer or market maker is willing to pay for a precious metal — that is, the buying price from the seller's point of view.

A bonded warehouse is a state-approved storage facility in which goods can be held outside the customs territory of the EU without import duties or import VAT becoming due.

Bretton Woods is the international monetary system established in 1944 that pegged the US dollar to gold, named after the New Hampshire town where it was agreed.

The Britannia is a sovereign bullion coin of the Royal Mint (United Kingdom), available in gold and silver at a fineness of 999.9 and 999 respectively.

Britannia silver is a silver alloy of 958 fineness (95.8 %), introduced in England in 1697 as a higher standard alongside sterling silver (925).

Broken gold refers to damaged, deformed or incomplete gold items that no longer serve as jewellery or usable objects and are destined chiefly for the melting pot.

A state-minted coin held primarily as a precious-metal investment, whose value tracks the current metal price (spot) plus a premium.

The buying price is the amount a dealer or refinery pays a private seller for precious metals — it always sits below the prevailing spot price.

Byproduct mining refers to recovering a precious metal as a secondary product while extracting a different, primary raw material.

C. Hafner is a German precious-metal refinery and semi-finished goods maker founded in Pforzheim in 1850, refining gold, silver and platinum-group metals and producing certified bars and semi-finished products for industry and the jewellery trade.

The COMEX (Commodity Exchange) is the world's most important futures exchange for gold and silver futures and the leading price-reference market for physical precious metals.

The metric carat (ct) is the legal unit of weight for diamonds and other gemstones and equals exactly 0.2 grams.

The cash limit for gold purchases sets the amount from which dealers must establish and record the buyer's identity under Ireland's anti-money-laundering rules.

A cast bar is made by pouring molten precious metal into a mould, which on cooling leaves the characteristically rough, slightly irregular surface.

A catalytic converter is a vehicle exhaust-treatment system that uses platinum-group metals (platinum, palladium, rhodium) to turn harmful combustion residues into non-toxic compounds.

Central bank purchases refers to the acquisition of gold reserves by national central banks to strengthen currency reserves and as a strategic hedge against currency and systemic risk.

Coin dimensions verification measures a coin's diameter and thickness with a calliper or gauge and compares the readings against the official striking specifications, exposing forgeries by their deviant measurements.

Coin weight verification is a simple, non-destructive way to check the authenticity of a precious-metal coin by comparing its actual weight with the manufacturer's official target weight.

A CombiBar (divisible bar) is a pre-scored precious-metal bar that snaps apart along stamped break lines into smaller single-gram pieces, without tools and without loss of weight.

Conflict gold is gold mined in war or crisis zones whose proceeds are used to fund armed groups or perpetuate human-rights abuses.

Contango describes a market situation in which the forward price of a commodity sits above the current spot price.

Copper (Cu, atomic number 29) is a reddish transition metal with outstanding electrical and thermal conductivity. Regarded as the first metal humans deliberately worked, it is today an indispensable industrial commodity.

Corrosion resistance is the ability of a material to withstand chemical attack from moisture, oxygen, acids or other environmental influences over time without significant change to its surface or structure.

The cost-average effect is the phenomenon whereby regular purchases of an asset at a fixed amount automatically yield a lower average price than the arithmetic mean of all the individual prices.

A crisis currency is an asset regarded as especially value-stable during periods of economic or political instability, which therefore sees rising demand in troubled times.

When precious metals cross borders, a declaration obligation applies within the EU from EUR 10,000, alongside import VAT and customs rules on entry from non-EU countries.

Cutlery silver denotes solid silver flatware with a fineness of at least 800 (80 %), widely produced across continental Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

A hydrometallurgical process for extracting gold in which crushed ore is treated with a dilute sodium-cyanide solution to selectively bring gold into solution.

The dealer selling price is the price at which a precious-metals dealer sells a product to the buyer — it always sits above the spot price and includes minting or refining costs, the dealer margin and any VAT.

Density expresses how much mass a substance packs into a given volume, and for precious metals it is a key marker of authenticity.

A non-destructive way to check whether a piece of precious metal is genuine by measuring its specific density using Archimedes' principle of buoyancy.

Dental gold is the gold alloy found in dental restorations such as crowns and bridges - usually with a fineness between 750 and 900, often with valuable additions of platinum and palladium.

Dental gold refers to precious-metal dental alloys used in dentistry for crowns, bridges and inlays, which on recycling yield valuable metals such as gold, platinum and palladium.

Diamagnetism is the faint pushing-away of a material by a magnetic field; because gold is diamagnetic, magnets do not draw it in.

Diversification means spreading capital across different asset classes, regions or currencies in order to reduce the overall risk of a portfolio.

Doré bars are semi-refined raw bars of gold and silver cast directly at mines or smelters, then sent to a refinery where they are processed up to fine-metal quality.

A historic European gold coin with a fineness of 986/1000 (23.6 carat), struck since the 13th century and once the leading trade currency of Europe.

Ductility is the ability of a material to deform plastically under tensile stress without fracturing.

Electrical conductivity describes how well a material carries an electric current and, for precious metals, is a key quality criterion in industrial applications.

Euwax Gold II is a physically backed gold ETC issued by the Stuttgart Stock Exchange that grants a direct claim to delivery of real gold; it is a German product and is not sold on the Irish market.

The FIFO principle (First In, First Out) assumes that when precious metals are sold, the units acquired earliest are treated as the ones disposed of first for tax purposes.

The Fear and Greed Index is a composite sentiment gauge that measures, on a scale from 0 (extreme fear) to 100 (extreme greed), how strongly fear or buying euphoria is driving current market behaviour.

Fine gold denotes gold with a fineness of at least 999 thousandths (999 ‰), meaning a purity of 99.9 per cent or higher.

Fine gold content states what proportion of a gold alloy consists of pure gold, expressed in thousandths (per mille) or in carats.

Fine weight states the actual amount of pure precious metal in a bar, coin or piece of jewellery — independent of the total weight of the object.

Fineness states how much pure precious metal an alloy contains — expressed in thousandths (e.g. 999) or in carats (e.g. 585 = 14 carat).

A fineness hallmark is a mark struck by an assay office or manufacturer on precious-metal articles that states the proportion of pure metal in thousandths (‰) or in carats.

The spot price is the continuously traded market price for immediate delivery, whereas the fixing is a reference price set only once (or twice) a day.

A future is a standardised forward contract obliging buyer and seller to deliver or take delivery of a set quantity of a precious metal at a price agreed today for a future date.

Gold (chemical symbol Au, atomic number 79) is a yellow, corrosion-resistant precious metal that has served for millennia as a store of value, a monetary metal and an engineering material.

A 1933 United States decree that compelled private individuals to hand their gold to the Federal Reserve and outlawed private gold ownership for roughly four decades.

A standardised piece of fine gold carrying a set weight and fineness, the gold bar functions as a physical investment and a store of value recognised the world over.

A gold bar's denomination is its standardised weight, and it largely determines the premium, liquidity and suitability for different investment strategies.

A gold ETF (exchange-traded fund) is a stock-market-listed fund that mirrors the gold price, letting investors gain exposure to gold's performance without holding the metal directly.

Gold double is a base-metal core (usually brass or copper) that is mechanically bonded to a thick layer of gold by hot rolling — as opposed to electroplated gold plating.

Gold hammered or rolled into wafer-thin sheets, used in gilding, fine craft and food decoration.

Gold coins of the German Empire (1871–1915), struck in 900 gold (crown gold), today recognised as investment gold and exempt from VAT.

Gold market seasonality refers to recurring, calendar-driven patterns in the gold price that arise from cyclical shifts in demand across key regions.

Gold mine hedging is the practice by which gold producers sell future output through forward contracts at a fixed price, in order to protect themselves against falling gold prices.

A gold nugget is a naturally formed piece of native gold that comes straight from rock or river sediment and has never passed through an industrial melting process.

Gold plating is the deposition of a very thin layer of gold onto a base or precious metal, glass or ceramic substrate to improve appearance, corrosion resistance or electrical performance.

A gold savings plan is a regular investment model in which a fixed sum of money is invested at set intervals into physical gold or gold-based securities.

A monetary system in which the value of a currency is fixed to a defined quantity of gold.

The gold-silver ratio shows how many ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold — a widely watched gauge of the two metals' relative value.

A trading strategy in which investors switch gold for silver (or the reverse) when the price ratio between the two metals reaches historically extreme levels.

The grain (abbreviated gr) is the smallest unit in the troy weight system and equals exactly 0.06479891 grams.

The gram (symbol g) is the base unit of mass most people work with under the International System of Units (SI) and the most widely used weight unit in the precious-metals trade.

Granules are small, irregular grains or beads of precious metal formed by pouring molten metal into water; they serve mainly as industrial and processing feedstock.

Green gold is a gold alloy with a high silver content, which gives the metal a characteristic greenish-yellow tint.

Gross weight is the total weight of a precious-metal object including all alloying components, before any deduction for impurities or additives.

A hallmark (also called a punch mark) is an official or trade test mark that permanently and tamper-resistantly documents the fineness and origin of a precious-metal object.

A magnifier, typically 10x to 30x, used to inspect fineness marks, hallmarks and striking features on precious-metal coins and bars.

The heat of fusion is the amount of energy a substance must absorb to change from solid to liquid at its melting point, without any change in temperature.

Heraeus is a German precious-metals company based in Hanau that ranks among the world's leading refineries and bar producers and is an accredited LBMA Good Delivery supplier.

The holding period is the span between acquiring and disposing of an asset; in Ireland there is no holding-period relief for bullion — a gain is chargeable to Capital Gains Tax regardless of how long the metal was held.

Home storage means keeping precious metals in the owner's own physical custody — in a safe at home, a bank deposit box or another self-chosen location.

The ice melt test exploits the exceptionally high thermal conductivity of silver to tell genuine metal apart from fakes: an ice cube placed on a real silver coin or bar melts noticeably faster than on any other material.

Identity verification is the legally required customer due diligence a dealer must carry out when precious metals are bought or sold in cash above certain thresholds under Ireland's anti-money-laundering legislation.

Industrial gold refers to gold used in technical applications — chiefly the electronics industry — rather than for investment or jewellery.

Industrial silver refers to silver consumed as a raw material in technical and manufacturing applications, as distinct from investment or jewellery silver.

Inflation protection describes the ability of an asset to preserve, or even increase, the real purchasing power of the capital invested when the general price level rises.

The intrinsic value (also material value) of a precious-metal item is the pure market value of the fine metal it contains, calculated as fine weight times the current spot price.

Investment gold is a tax-privileged category of gold (bars and certain coins) whose purchase is exempt from VAT across the EU, including Ireland.

Iridium (Ir) is a silvery-white platinum-group precious metal with one of the highest densities of any element (22.56 g/cm3, just behind osmium) and exceptional resistance to corrosion.

Jewellery gold refers to gold alloys used to make jewellery, whose fineness is expressed in karats or in parts per thousand.

The Kangaroo (officially the Australian Gold Nugget) is an Australian gold coin of 999.9/1000 fineness, struck by the Perth Mint since 1986, and one of the most widely traded bullion coins in the world.

Karat (abbreviated kt or ct) is the traditional unit for the gold content of an alloy: 24 karat corresponds to pure gold (999 per mille fineness, with the highest trade purity being 999.9 per mille).

A kilo bar is a standardised precious-metal bar weighing exactly 1,000 grams (1 kg), produced for gold, silver and other precious metals in either cast or minted form.

South Africa's Krugerrand is the best-selling gold bullion coin in the world — 22 carat, with exactly one troy ounce of fine gold in the one-ounce version.

The South African Krugerrand is struck in four official weight denominations: 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz and 1/10 oz — all with an identical fineness of 916.7/1000 (22 carat).

The LBMA Fixing is a reference price for gold and silver set twice daily in London that is used worldwide as the binding benchmark for trading, mining contracts and financial products.

The LBMA Good Delivery standard is the globally recognised quality norm for tradeable gold and silver bars in institutional wholesale, setting minimum requirements for fineness, weight, shape and refiner origin.

The Libertad is Mexico's state investment coin in gold or silver, struck by the Casa de Moneda de México and recognised worldwide as a bullion coin.

The London Fix is a reference price for gold, silver, platinum and palladium set twice a day, coordinated by the LBMA and used worldwide as the settlement basis for physical precious-metal transactions.

The Lunar Series is a collection of gold and silver investment coins struck each year by the Perth Mint (Australia), each carrying the motif of the current Chinese zodiac animal.

The magnet test checks whether a precious metal reacts to a strong magnet — genuine gold, silver and platinum are not magnetic and are not attracted.

The magnetic scale exploits the Lenz effect together with the diamagnetic values specific to precious metals in order to tell genuine gold and silver bars or coins from magnetic fakes.

The Maple Leaf is a bullion coin struck by the Royal Canadian Mint in gold, silver, platinum and palladium, with a fineness of 999.9/1000 for gold and silver, and is legal tender in Canada.

The margin scheme is a special VAT arrangement under which a dealer charges tax only on the trading margin (the difference between purchase and resale price) rather than on the full selling price.

Medals are struck or cast metal discs without legal-tender status, produced from precious metals as commemorative, award or collector pieces.

The melting point is the temperature at which a substance changes from solid to liquid at normal pressure, with the temperature staying constant throughout the melting process.

Mine production is the total quantity of precious metal recovered from ore through mining, where the ore grade and the economic minimum grade (cut-off) decide which material is worth extracting at all.

Shares in companies that mine precious metals or other raw materials, offering leveraged exposure to the price movements of the underlying metals.

A mint is a state-authorised or state-run institution that strikes or casts coins and bars from precious metals to defined weight and fineness standards.

A mint mark is a small symbol or letter on a coin that uniquely identifies the mint that issued it.

A minted bar is a precious metal bar produced by mechanical stamping, with a smooth, dimensionally precise surface and struck-in information such as fineness, weight and maker logo.

A unitless rating from 1 to 10 that captures how well a mineral withstands being scratched by something harder than itself.

A Japanese unit of weight from the traditional shakkan system, used today mainly in the pearl trade and equal to exactly 3.75 grams.

Nickel silver is a silvery copper-nickel-zinc alloy that contains no silver whatsoever; its appearance made it a popular silver substitute throughout history.

Nickel white gold is a gold alloy in which nickel serves as the main whitening metal, giving yellow gold a silvery-white colour.

Numismatics is the study and collecting of coins, medals and related means of payment; collector coins draw their value not from metal content alone but substantially from historical significance, rarity and minting quality.

The two fundamental extraction methods in mining, in which ores are recovered either in an open pit (near the surface) or underground (in deep drives and shafts).

The opportunity cost of gold is the return foregone when capital tied up in gold could instead have been invested in interest-bearing or higher-yielding assets.

Ore grade states how many grams of a precious metal (such as gold or silver) are contained in one tonne of raw ore, and it is the single most important figure for judging whether a mine is economically viable.

Osmium (Os, atomic number 76) is the densest naturally occurring element on Earth and belongs to the platinum group of metals.

The troy ounce is the international standard unit for precious metal prices and equals exactly 31.1034768 grams.

An over-the-counter cash transaction is the purchase or sale of precious metals, securities or other assets for cash at the counter ("across the desk"), without recording the buyer's identity.

PAMP Suisse is a Swiss precious-metals refinery founded in 1977 and based in Castel San Pietro, ranking among the most prestigious and widely traded bar producers in the world.

Palladium (Pd, atomic number 46) is a silvery-white platinum group precious metal used above all as a catalyst in vehicle exhaust systems and in the electronics industry.

A palladium coin is a minted coin made of palladium with a defined fineness, acquired as an investment vehicle or a collector item.

Palladium white gold is a gold alloy in which palladium acts as the key alloying metal, giving the gold its characteristic silvery-white colour.

The Gold Panda and Silver Panda are official investment coins of the People's Republic of China, issued annually by the China Gold Coin Corporation since 1982 (gold) and 1983 (silver), and set apart from other bullion coins by their yearly-changing panda-bear motif.

Paper gold is the collective term for gold-linked financial products such as ETFs, ETCs, futures or certificates that track the gold price without giving the holder direct ownership of the physical metal, even though certain instruments (for example Xetra-Gold) do carry a right to physical delivery.

The pennyweight (dwt) is a unit of mass in the troy system equal to 1/20 of a troy ounce, used above all in the Anglo-American jewellery and goldsmithing trades.

Per mille (parts per thousand) expresses the fineness of a precious metal as the proportion of pure metal in the total mass and is the legally binding figure stamped on bars and coins.

The Perth Mint is Australia's state-owned coin-minting institution, founded in 1899, and ranks among the world's most respected refineries and producers of investment gold, silver and platinum.

Silver used as a conductive paste in solar cells to carry away the generated current; it now represents the single largest industrial consumption category for the metal.

The ping test is a non-destructive authenticity check that uses the characteristic ringing sound a coin makes when lightly struck to tell genuine precious-metal coins from fakes.

Platinum is a rare, silvery-white precious metal of the platinum group with atomic number 78 that, thanks to its exceptional corrosion resistance, catalytic properties and industrial versatility, ranks among the most valuable metals on earth.

A platinum coin is an investment or collector coin struck from platinum with a fineness of at least 999.5/1000 (Pt 999.5), issued by state mints around the world.

The platinum group metals (PGMs) are six chemically related transition metals – platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium – distinguished by exceptional corrosion resistance, high melting points and catalytic properties.

Precious metals are a group of chemical elements marked by high resistance to corrosion and oxidation, and they occur in nature largely native — that is, in pure metallic form.

A metal counts as precious when its standard electrode potential is markedly more positive than that of the hydrogen electrode, so that under normal conditions it does not react with water, oxygen or most acids.

Precious metal recycling is the recovery of gold, silver and platinum-group metals from end-of-life material such as jewellery, electronic scrap and industrial residues using chemical or thermal processing methods.

With a precious-metal savings plan you regularly buy gold or silver for a fixed amount — the cost-average effect smooths out the price swings along the way.

The premium is the surcharge over the spot price that buyers pay, on top of the pure metal value, when acquiring physical precious-metal products such as coins or bars.

The premium (agio) is the amount by which the selling price of a precious-metal coin or bar exceeds the current metal value (spot price).

Primary mining refers to the extraction of precious metals directly from the ground through mining, as opposed to secondary recovery from recycled material.

In Ireland, a private individual who sells bullion at a profit realises a chargeable gain that is subject to Capital Gains Tax, unlike Germany where a similar disposal within a one-year window falls under income tax and is otherwise tax-free.

Proof denotes the highest quality standard in coin minting, recognisable by its mirror-smooth fields and frosted, matte relief.

An umbrella name for the Royal Mint's British bullion ranges, released as themed editions that pair genuine investment value with real appeal to collectors.

Rand Refinery is the largest integrated gold refinery in the world and the maker of the Krugerrand, the best-known gold bullion coin on the planet.

The real interest rate is the nominal rate adjusted for inflation and shows the actual change in purchasing power that a savings return delivers.

Red gold is a gold alloy with a high copper content that gives the metal its distinctive reddish to warm bronze-coloured tone.

A refinery separates precious metals from scrap gold, industrial waste and ore and processes them into high-purity fine metal.

Refining, or affinage, is the industrial purification of raw precious metals to the fineness levels required for trading and investment.

The reflectivity of a metal describes what proportion of incident light its surface throws back, and it is responsible for the characteristic metallic lustre of gold, silver and other precious metals.

Responsible gold is gold that has been mined and traded along the entire supply chain in line with ethical, social and environmental minimum standards.

Rhodium (Rh) is a silvery-white platinum-group precious metal used mainly as a catalyst in vehicle exhaust systems and for surface finishing; it ranks among the rarest and most expensive metals on Earth.

An electroplated rhodium layer applied to jewellery or coins that improves lustre, scratch resistance and protection against tarnishing.

Rose gold is a gold alloy with a distinctive pink to reddish hue created by a deliberate copper content.

The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) is Canada's state mint and one of the most respected precious metal institutions in the world, known for the Maple Leaf and for the very highest purity standards.

The Royal Mint is the state mint of the United Kingdom and one of the oldest continuously operating mints in the world, known for bullion coins such as the Britannia and the Sovereign.

Financing firms that advance capital to mining operations and, in return, secure the right to buy future precious-metal output at a pre-agreed price or to collect a revenue-based fee.

Ruthenium (Ru) is a rare platinum-group metal prized for its exceptional hardness and corrosion resistance, used chiefly in the electronics industry and as an alloying additive.

A safe haven is an asset that holds or gains value during periods of economic or political uncertainty, while other asset classes decline.

Scrap gold refers to used or damaged gold items - jewellery, dental gold, coins, and industrial residues - that are melted down and refined to recover the fine-gold content.

Scrap silver refers to used silver from jewellery, cutlery, coins, or industrial goods that is melted down or reprocessed as a raw material.

A semi-precious metal is a metal that shows some resistance to corrosion but does not possess the full chemical inertness of the precious metals.

A unique identifier engraved or stamped onto a precious-metal bar by its maker, enabling traceability, authenticity checks and matching to the accompanying certificate.

Sigma Metalytics is a product line of handheld testers that measure the specific resistivity of precious metals by electromagnetic induction, reliably exposing counterfeits.

Silver (Ag) is a bright-white precious metal with the highest electrical conductivity of any element, used both as an investment metal and across industry, photography and medicine.

A silver bar is a standardised piece of fine silver (at least 999/1000) that serves as a physical investment form for both private and institutional investors.

Circulating silver coins were state-minted means of payment made from silver alloys that dominated everyday money for centuries, until rising silver prices forced their withdrawal and replacement with base-metal coinage.

Solid silver cutlery is made entirely from a silver alloy, whereas silver-plated cutlery carries only a thin silver layer over a base-metal core.

A silver ETF (exchange-traded fund) is a fund traded on a stock exchange that tracks the price of silver, letting investors gain exposure without buying or storing physical metal themselves.

The silver ounce is the international standard unit for the silver trade, meaning one troy ounce of silver weighing 31.1035 grams.

The tax-driven surcharge on silver is the part of the purchase price a buyer pays over and above the pure metal value, because investment silver carries VAT in Ireland whereas investment gold does not.

The Somalia Elephant is a silver bullion coin with a fresh design each year that, despite its name, has been issued officially by the Republic of Rwanda since 2016.

The Sovereign is a British gold coin of 916.7 ‰ fineness (22 carat) with a fine weight of 7.3224 grams, struck since 1817 and popular worldwide as a classic bullion coin.

Specific gravity (also called relative density) expresses how much heavier a substance is compared with water (density 1.0 g/cm³), and it ranks among the most reliable figures for verifying the authenticity of precious metals.

The speculative holding period is the time after which private gains on the sale of precious metals and other assets become tax-free — a concept that exists in Germany but, importantly, not in Ireland, where such gains are always liable to Capital Gains Tax.

The spot market is the marketplace for immediate delivery of precious metals at the currently prevailing cash price.

The spot price is the current market price for immediate delivery of one troy ounce of precious metal — the basis for almost every buying and selling price.

The spot rate is the currently valid market price of a precious metal for immediate delivery and payment, also known as the spot price.

The spread is the difference between the buying price (bid) and the selling price (ask) of a precious metal, and it represents the dealer's implicit trading margin.

Sterling silver is a silver alloy containing 92.5% fine silver (925/1000) — the standard for cutlery, jewellery and many collector pieces.

The streak test is a classic chemical method for determining the fineness of gold alloys, in which a streak of metal drawn on a touchstone is compared using acid solutions of known concentration.

The interplay of supply (mine production, recycling, central-bank sales) and demand (jewellery, industry, investment) is the main driver of precious-metal prices.

Fairtrade gold is certified metal from artisanal and small-scale mining that meets minimum social standards, environmental requirements and a mandatory Fairtrade premium paid on top of the market price.

The tael is a traditional East Asian weight unit for precious metals whose exact weight varies by region between roughly 37.4 g and 37.8 g.

Tarnishing is the surface discolouration of metals caused by a chemical reaction with sulphur compounds or oxygen in the surrounding air.

In Ireland an individual has an annual personal Capital Gains Tax exemption of EUR 1,270; gains up to this amount each year are free of CGT, and only the excess is charged at 33%.

Thermal conductivity describes how well a material transports heat energy through itself and is expressed in watts per metre per kelvin (W/(m·K)).

A long-standing South Asian measure of weight for gold and silver, the tola comes to precisely 11.6638 grams and remains in daily use across India, Pakistan and the Gulf.

Tombac is a copper-zinc alloy containing between 67% and 90% copper; its gold-like colour has long made it a favourite decorative material and a traditional coin metal.

The standard weight unit used worldwide in precious metal trading: one troy ounce equals exactly 31.1034768 grams of pure metal.

The troy weight system is the internationally binding scale for precious metals; its base unit, the troy ounce, equals exactly 31.1034768 grams.

A tungsten forgery is a counterfeit gold or platinum bar or coin in which a tungsten core is coated with a thin layer of precious metal, exploiting the almost identical density of tungsten (19.25 g/cm3) and gold (19.32 g/cm3).

A non-destructive test that uses sound waves in the ultrasonic range to determine the density, internal structure and composition of precious metal bars and coins.

Umicore is a Belgian technology group and one of the world's leading precious metal refiners, whose bars and coin blanks are accredited to LBMA Good Delivery.

Unallocated gold is a claim to gold against a bank or provider that is not backed by any individually assigned, physically segregated bar or coin.

The United States Mint is the official coinage authority of the United States, issuing legal tender as well as gold, silver and platinum bullion coins since 1792.

Urban mining is the targeted recovery of precious metals and other valuable materials from electronic scrap, old devices and industrial waste streams, as a complement to primary mining.

Investment gold is exempt from VAT throughout the EU - and in Ireland under the VAT Consolidation Act 2010 - provided it meets set minimum standards of fineness and form.

Buying silver (bars, coins, industrial silver) attracts VAT in Ireland — unlike investment gold, which is fully VAT-exempt.

Valcambi is one of the world's largest and most respected gold refiners, based in Balerna in the Swiss canton of Ticino, renowned for the highest purity standards and its patented CombiBar system.

Vermeil is gold-plated sterling silver carrying a minimum gold layer of 2.5 micrometres, forming a distinct jewellery category that sits between solid gold and ordinary gold plating.

The Vienna Philharmonic is Austria's best-known investment coin and one of the most widely traded bullion coins in the world, available in gold, silver and platinum.

Volatility measures how intensely a price fluctuates over a defined period and is the central gauge of the market risk carried by an asset.

The Vreneli is a Swiss gold coin with a fineness of 900/1000 (21.6 karat), struck between 1897 and 1949 and traded today as a classic bullion coin.

Wristwatches and pocket watches whose case, bracelet or dial is made wholly or partly of gold, silver, platinum or palladium.

Wealth protection covers the strategies and instruments used to preserve the real value of assets against inflation, currency debasement, crises and political risk.

White gold is a gold alloy to which white metals such as palladium, nickel or silver are added to produce its characteristic silvery-white colour.

White gold metals are the precious metals that give gold a silvery-white colour when used as alloying partners — chiefly palladium, platinum and nickel.

Ireland taxes investment income such as interest and dividends, but physical precious metals fall outside that regime - a private person's gain on selling bullion is instead liable to Capital Gains Tax at 33 %.

A non-destructive analytical method that uses X-rays to determine the elemental composition of precious metals and alloys with high precision.

Xetra-Gold is an exchange-traded note (ETC) issued by Deutsche Boerse Commodities GmbH that is physically backed by gold and grants investors a securitised claim to delivery of real gold.

Yellow gold is the classic gold alloy of gold, silver and copper, whose warm yellow tone comes closest to that of the pure metal.