How much does an ounce of silver weigh in grams? Every person who decides to invest in stock trading inevitably faces this question. Converting units of measurement can sometimes be a hassle, but many exchanges offer tracking rates that are clear to millions of customers.
In the past, difficulties often arose due to a number of discrepancies in measurement measures and the lack of a unified international system. Errors occurred because one country had a larger or smaller volume of an ounce of the precious metal (silver) than another.
Currently, exchanges strive for universality of meaning; operations can be performed from anywhere in the world, so no discrepancies in terminology and its understanding are allowed. Silver is an extremely popular commodity on the stock exchange: it gives good growth, is inexpensive, and anyone can afford to buy it. Therefore, in order to understand the possibilities of making a profit, you need to clearly understand what volume measures are used, how much money and what weight of precious metal is invested.
Troy ounce of silver
First, let's figure out what a troy ounce is. Mathematicians compete with each other to see who can remember the most decimal places in Pi. A troy ounce, calculated in grams, has a final value of 31.1034768 grams. But it’s easier to remember the number 31.1, because that’s what is minted on domestic ounce coins. Originating in the French city of Troyes, the new measure of weight competed with the Cologne pound and the Toulouse pound. But it was lucky enough to become a standard measure of weight in jewelry and banking.
In our country, the term ounce silver or ounce coin is not widely used. After the revolution, abandoning poods and pounds, the USSR switched to standard weights. There are no plans to return to the British system, which continues to use ounces. If we see One Troy Ounce or OZ on bars or coins, then we have a troy ounce.
The inscription 31.1 g Ag or 1 oz Ag means that the content of pure metal in the object is exactly one ounce. Its total weight depends on the fineness of the silver used and will most often be higher than the minted value.
Online calculator converter
To quickly convert from one value to another, use our converter:
troy ounces = 311.034768 grams
The market for gold, silver and platinum still holds tightly to this measure of the value of precious metals, since it has long been considered the “royal” standard of metal quality. A number of gold coins weigh exactly one troy ounce:
- South African Krugerrand;
- Canadian gold maple leaf;
- American Golden Eagle;
- American golden buffalo;
- Australian gold bar (this is not a gold bar);
- Chinese panda;
- Austrian Philharmonic.
The name troy ounce has nothing to do with the Greek Troy; The name of the well-known unit of measurement was given by the small French town of Troyes, which in the 12th century gained popularity thanks to the fairs held there. Merchants from all over the world flocked to Troyes, which was located on the banks of the Seine.
Ducats, crowns, pounds, dinars - the variety of national currencies brought some confusion; some standardized measure of weight was needed. They offered to take the French livre, which contained a troy pound of silver. From here, the troy ounce popularized this measure of value year after year, and ultimately it conquered the world, or at least the world of precious metals.
Currently, the price per troy ounce of gold is set using the London fixing, which is the world standard for the price per gram of gold. The fixed price for “solar metal” is set twice a day - at 10.30 am and at 15.00 London time (13.30 and 18.00 Moscow time).
By the way, before the First World War, the price of gold did not need fixing, since the UK had a gold standard and the Bank of England was always ready to buy the gold offered at a fixed price equal to 3 pounds 17 shillings and 9 pence, and sell it for 3 pounds 17 shillings and 10.5 shillings.
But after the war, South African gold miners became interested in the free sale of gold; the price of gold in depreciated pounds sterling did not suit them at all. Then they turned to the Johnson Matthey company for help in selling their gold on the market - but they were refused due to large capital investments; the second attempt was to turn to the Rothschilds. And the “whales” of the financial market decided to make a deal.
The first fixing occurred on September 12, 1919. Each broker could then telephone to his office, where he contacted his direct clients, sellers and buyers. This made it possible to quickly adjust the process of supply and demand by fixing prices.
The essence of the price discovery process has not changed much: the world's five leading market participants Deutsche Bank, Société Générale, HSBC, Scotia Mocatta and Barclays Capital determine the equilibrium price of gold at a certain point in time in accordance with current supply and demand.
It should be noted that gold fixing is listed in three currencies per troy ounce: US dollars, pound sterling and euro. But since the dollar is the world's reserve currency, the price of gold is determined in American dollars.
So we will not soon say goodbye to the troy ounce - a solid, eternal value must have an equally solid measure.
Be careful: in addition to the troy ounce, there is also an ounce of avoirdupois (from the French Avoirdupois - “goods that have weight”), the weight of which is 28.349523125 grams.
So when we are talking about some kind of product (with the exception of precious metals) and the weight is indicated in ounces, it is worth distinguishing between these weight measures, just as the types of gold are distinguished - red gold and red gold.
Collectible Coins (1 oz Silver)
The more exotic the state, the more it wants to amaze the potential buyer. Everything comes into play: an unusual shape, fancy coloring or gilding, original packaging. This is how the most amazing coins in the world are born.
In 2006, Bermuda, with the help of the British Royal Court, introduced the Bermuda Triangle set to collectors. His six coins depict ships that were shipwrecked in this mysterious zone. Any three dollar coin will show 33.63 grams on the scale. Why? Because 925 silver was used for minting. For its unusual triangular shape, Western numismatists called this issue mediators. If only they knew that in three years Canada would release a collectible mediator coin (although we are no longer talking about silver here).
The Kyrgyzstan World Nomad Games 2016 coin also has an unusual shape (a square with rounded corners). Pay attention to the lower left corner, where both the fineness of the metal and the content of its net weight are recorded: 31.1 grams, that is, a troy ounce.
Of the ounce coins associated with the Sochi Olympics, we can highlight the Tajikistan series. Above is a copy from the series dedicated to ski jumping. On the obverse we see 31.1. It is noteworthy that the silver hallmark is stamped on both sides.
The domestic theme is beautifully continued by the two-dollar 2007 release of the Cook Islands The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The reverse features color images of the heroes of the series of Soviet television films about Holmes (directed by Igor Maslennikov).
The motif of Russian near-Earth exploration is perfectly reflected by the Mongolia Mir Station coin (representative of the 50 Years of Cosmonautics series). Here the purity of the precious metal is already 999th, so the indicated value of 1 oz is close to the actual weight of the presented specimen.
Using recalculation in practice
The need to convert ounce to gram arises, in most cases, when trying to calculate how much gold or silver costs per gram in national currency, for example in rubles, today. The calculation algorithm is quite complex and requires knowledge not only of the cost of the metal in dollars per ounce, but also of the ruble/dollar exchange rate. It looks like this:
the cost of gold (USD/ozt) divided by 31.1035 and multiplied by the exchange rate USD/RUB, we get the price of gold in RUB/g.
There is a calculator for calculating the cost of gold, which makes calculations based on data from the Central Bank, which makes it much easier and faster to get the desired result.
You can find a large number of unit converters on the Internet; when using such programs to convert the weight of precious metals, it is important to remember that you need a troy ounce, and not some other unit.
I hope this article helped to understand the question: 1 ounce, how many grams. Also, when determining value in jewelry, questions often arise related to another obscure unit for determining mass - the carat. You can read the article about this: 1 carat, how many grams.
Silver coins of Sberbank
In fact, these are coins of the Bank of Russia, but they are often tied to Sberbank. Apparently, this is due to the display cases in its branches, where collectible issues are generously presented. Including ounce silver. After the collapse of the USSR, its production did not stop. Already in 1992, two silver three-ruble coins from the Age of Enlightenment series appeared. In the early 90s, the Bank of Russia experimented with the hallmark and weight on silver coins of 1 and 2 rubles. However, the three-ruble denomination is stable at 900 fineness and an ounce of pure silver.
Minting technologies also do not stand still. Specialists of the Bank of Russia took an original approach to the issue of the commemorative coin for the 300th anniversary of the monetary reform of Peter I. Here, an ounce of silver is paired with gold (1.55 grams), which beautifully outlines the obverse and reverse of the first Russian copper penny. In 2006, on the three-ruble Tretyakov Gallery coin, an ounce of silver was added to a square insert of 1.55 grams of gold, on which a portrait of P.M. Tretyakov. The three-ruble commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the first Russian postage stamp was made in the same way.
In the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, the Bank of Russia increases the standard of silver in collectible coins to 925. From this moment on, their metal can proudly be called Coin Silver ( Sterling Silver ). The design continues to be constantly improved. Following the first colored coin (2 rubles in 2008 by Nikolai Nosov), a colored ounce of 3 rubles in 2009 appeared, marking the 50th anniversary of the beginning of lunar exploration.
Ounce of Silver in US Coins
Collectible 20th century US silver dollars were 900 fine and weighed 26.73 grams. The real American Silver Eagle (with the great seal of the USA depicted on one side) appeared in 1986 and received the unofficial name Walking Freedom . They use silver with a purity of 9993. This ounce is positioned as a bullion coin. Freedom's popularity is quite high. In November 2014, buyers, in the wake of falling exchange prices for silver, sold out all the reserves of the US Mint. During the week, 1,260,000 ounces were sold. However, annual circulations of several million allow unknown artists to push painted copies onto the market, and then Lady Liberty can even walk on the moon.
Ozt nowadays
Before the adoption of the metric system, troy units were used in various parts of Europe. Their values varied by several percent.
The modern unit of weight corresponds to the imperial troy ounce and the following proportions are accepted for it:
- 12 ozt is 1 tr. lb;
- 1 ozt contains 20 pennyweight.
Such ratios have a connection with the British monetary system, based on the old pound, which was equal to 240 pence. Therefore, such a weighing system is called a coin system. In the modern world, coin weights are used only for weighing precious metals and stones. According to ISO4217 codes, the following designations are assigned to the units of weight of investment metals:
- XAU - t oz gold;
- XAG - t oz silver;
- XPT - t oz platinum.
Today, ozt is the international standard for precious metals trading. All major trading platforms set prices without commenting on how many grams are in a troy ounce of gold and what quality, since experienced investors are in any case aware of such nuances.
Investment coins (ounce silver)
Currently, almost all the leading powers in the world do not refuse the opportunity to mint ounce coins in large quantities for investment. For Australia, the glory of the most popular goes to the Kookaburra. An untsovka with the image of a strange bird from a continent far from us has been minted since 1990. The annual number of Australian Kookaburra (1 ounce) varies from three hundred thousand to a million. Let us remember that the closest relatives of the kookaburra are kingfishers.
St. George the Victorious is the most famous of the Russian investment coins. It also contains an ounce of silver. No less popular are the rectangular three-ruble coins with the mascots of the Sochi Olympics. For the 2022 World Cup, the Bank of Russia has released another investment card, but this time with a football theme. Russian investment coins made of silver have 999 metal purity (with the exception of the 1995 Sobol).
