Tael
Also: Tahil, Liang, 兩
The tael is a traditional East Asian unit of weight for precious metals, whose exact weight varies by region between roughly 37.4 g and 37.8 g.
The tael (also tahil or Chinese liang 兩) is one of the oldest units of weight in East Asia and is still used today in the precious-metals trade of China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. Historically it served as a currency weight for silver — comparable to the European troy ounce — and later established itself as a standard size for gold bars.
Regional variants
A key feature of the tael is its lack of international uniformity. A different weight applies depending on the marketplace:
| Region | Weight |
|---|---|
| Hong Kong | 37.4290 g |
| Taiwan | 37.5000 g |
| China (metric, since 1959) | 50.0000 g |
| Singapore | ≈ 37.4290 g |
Anyone comparing tael bars of different origins must therefore always check the regional definition. The unit converter helps convert to grams or troy ounces.
Tael gold bars in Hong Kong
On the Hong Kong market, so-called tael bars (also biscuit bars) are widespread. They are typically traded in denominations of 1, 2, 5 and 10 tael and usually have a fineness of 990 ‰ (99.0%) — slightly below the 999.9 ‰ common for European bars. The gross weight of a 1-tael bar is 37.4290 g; the fine weight is derived as follows:
Fine weight = gross weight × fineness
Example: 37.4290 g × 0.990 = 37.055 g fine gold
To calculate the current melt value, use the melt value calculator.
Historical significance
Until the 20th century the tael was the principal unit of account for silver in many parts of East Asia. The Chinese silver tael (Kuping tael) served, among other things, as the basis for trade treaties and reparation payments in the 19th century. With the introduction of the metric system in the People's Republic of China (1959), the liang was fixed at exactly 50 g, while Hong Kong and Taiwan retained the older definition.
Distinction from related units
- Troy ounce: 31.1035 g — the international trading unit for precious metals
- Tola: 11.6638 g — a South Asian unit, mainly on the Indian gold market
- Gram: the SI base unit, the most widely used in Europe and globally
By global comparison, 1 Hong Kong tael corresponds to roughly 1.2034 troy ounces.
In brief
The tael is not a uniform quantity — its weight depends on the region. Anyone buying or selling East Asian tael bars should always check the origin definition and the fineness and compare it against the current gold price.