How Much Gold Is in a Gold Coin? Gold Content by Coin

It depends on the coin. A pre-1933 US $20 Double Eagle holds 0.9675 troy ounces of pure gold, a $10 Eagle 0.48375 ounces and a $5 Half Eagle 0.24187 ounces. Modern one-ounce bullion coins such as the American Gold Eagle, the Gold Buffalo and the Krugerrand each contain one full troy ounce of gold, even though they weigh different amounts.

The number that matters is the actual gold weight, or AGW. It's what you multiply by the spot price to get melt value.

Why a coin's weight isn't its gold weight

Most gold coins are an alloy. Pure gold is soft, so mints mix in copper, or copper and silver, to make the coin tougher. The scale shows the whole coin. Only part of that is gold.

The formula is short: gross weight × fineness = gold weight. Fineness is the gold share. Classic US gold is .900 (90%). A 22-karat coin is 91.67% gold. A 24-karat bullion coin like the Gold Buffalo is .9999.

Gold is priced per troy ounce, which is 31.1035 grams. A kitchen-scale ounce is only 28.3495 grams, so a "one ounce" coin is about 10% heavier than most people expect. If you're fuzzy on troy weight, our explainer on troy ounces versus regular ounces clears it up.

Gold content of classic US gold coins

All six regular US gold denominations struck before the 1930s use the same .900 standard. The gram column is the pure gold, worked out from the official gross weight.

The years shown cover both the Liberty and the Indian Head or Saint-Gaudens designs. Design doesn't change the gold. A Liberty $10 and an Indian Head $10 hold the same 0.48375 ounces. For the history and premiums behind these coins, start with our pre-1933 gold coins guide.

Gold content of modern bullion coins

Modern bullion coins are built the other way around. The mint picks a round gold weight, then sizes the coin to fit.

The South African Krugerrand is also 22K and contains one troy ounce of gold, but it carries no face value at all. The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is .9999 fine, like the Buffalo. The Gold Eagle's alloy uses silver and copper, which is why it weighs about 2.8 grams more than the Buffalo while holding the same gold. Our Gold Eagle weight and purity explainer goes through each size.

The live table below shows today's melt value for the four best-known one-ounce coins. Because each contains one ounce, the figures sit very close together.

Worked example: two coins that look similar

Say gold is $4,000 an ounce, and you have a $2.50 Indian Head Quarter Eagle and a 1/10 oz Gold Eagle. Both are small gold coins you could mix up in a drawer.

• Quarter Eagle: 4.18 g × 0.90 = 3.762 g of gold. Divide by 31.1035 and you get 0.12094 ounces. At $4,000 that's about $483.76.
• 1/10 oz Gold Eagle: 0.1 ounces of gold, so $400.00 at the same price.

The older coin carries about 21% more gold. A buyer who lumps every "little gold coin" together at one price is shortchanging somebody. Price each coin by its own AGW.

Quick answers to common gold-content puzzles

Why do 22K and 24K coins weigh different amounts?

Because the extra metal in a 22K coin is alloy, not gold. The 1 oz Gold Eagle weighs 33.931 g and the Buffalo 31.108 g. Pure gold in each is one troy ounce. Neither coin gives you more gold. The trade-off is durability against purity, covered in our Gold Eagle vs Gold Buffalo comparison.

Does wear reduce the gold?

Slightly. A heavily circulated classic coin can weigh a touch less than its official weight because metal rubs off over decades. Dealers usually price common classic gold on the standard AGW. If your coin is noticeably light, that's a reason to check it's genuine, not just worn.

Do the Krugerrand and Gold Eagle hold the same gold?

Yes. Both are 22K and both contain one troy ounce of pure gold. They're built on the same idea: a full ounce of gold plus enough alloy to make the coin hard-wearing. The Krugerrand has no face value, while the Gold Eagle is US legal tender, but that doesn't change the metal. Prices between them differ only through premiums and buyer preference.

Do "golden dollars" contain gold?

No. Sacagawea, Native American and Presidential dollars are manganese brass: 88.5% copper, 6% zinc, 3.5% manganese and 2% nickel. The color is a trick of the alloy. Read whether golden dollars are real gold for the details.

What about commemorative and proof coins?

Modern commemoratives and proofs vary by program. The gold content is usually stated in the mint's specifications for that coin. Use the official spec, not the coin's size or color, to work out melt.

Same math as jewelry: karat to percent

Coins and jewelry use the same purity scale, just written differently. If you inherit a coin set in a ring or pendant, you'll be dealing with both. This table shows how the common karats translate.

The 90% row isn't a standard jewelry karat. It simply shows that classic US coin gold sits between 18K and 22K. If a coin is mounted, price the coin by its AGW and the frame separately by its own karat, since the frame is often a lower purity than the coin.

Converting between grams, ounces and pennyweight

Jewelers and scrap buyers often talk in grams or pennyweight. Coin dealers talk in troy ounces. Here are the conversions you'll need:

• 1 troy ounce = 31.1035 grams = 20 pennyweight.
• 1 pennyweight (dwt) = 1.5552 grams.
• 1 kilogram = 32.1507 troy ounces.

So a Double Eagle's 30.09 g of gold is about 19.35 pennyweight. The converter below shows today's gold price in every common unit, which helps when one buyer quotes per gram and another per ounce.

How to find the gold in any coin

1. Identify the coin: country, denomination, design and year.
2. Find its official gross weight and fineness from the issuing mint's specs, or from our coin pages and the tables above.
3. Multiply weight by fineness to get grams of gold, then divide by 31.1035 for troy ounces.
4. Multiply by spot, or let the bullion value calculator do it with live prices.
5. Weigh the coin yourself. A big gap from the official weight is a red flag.