Know your Gold

Things to know before buying coins

Gold is something that many Indians buy during festivals such as Akshaya Tritiya, Dhanteras. Other than jewellery, we can also buy physical gold in the form of bars and coins. 1. Purity of Gold Coins There are two ways to measure the purity of gold coins - Karat and fineness. Karat is the more commonly used measure of gold purity. 24 Karat (KT) is considered to be the purest form of gold which contains 24/24 parts of gold. Similarly, 22KT gold contains 22 parts of gold and 2 parts of other metals such as zinc or silver to make it more durable while making jewellery. Fineness is another parameter used to measure the purity of gold and is mainly to find the purity of 24KT gold. The purest form of gold, i.e., 24KT, when measured in fineness shows 999.9 parts per thousand of purity. 2. Hallmarking While buying a gold coin apart from purity, one should also check if it is hallmarked. Government of India has set up the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to ensure that consumers are not cheated while buying gold. BIS certifies gold and silver coins and jewellery by stamping it (embossing its mark on the gold item) to certify the level of purity of the item. There are four components that are hallmarked on gold. These are: a) BIS logo b) Purity in carat and Fineness; c) Logo of Assaying and hallmarking center, and d) Jewellers' identification mark and number. 3. Packaging It is advisable that one must buy gold coins in a tamper proof packaging. The packaging is a guard against counterfeiting, fraud, damage and ensures the credibility of the purity of the gold coin. 4. Denominations Usually, gold coins are available in the market ranging from 0.5 grams to 50 grams in weight. 5. Making Charges Buying gold coins is relatively easier as compared to jewellery. It offers you the option to buy the purest form of gold in the minimum weight of 0.5 grams with lower making charges in comparison to ornaments like earrings, rings etc. Making (or manufacturing) charges for gold coins usually ranges between 8 percent and 16 percent.

How to know if the gold I am buying is real?

Test at home

1.Magnet Test Test can be carried out at home with a strong magnet. Unlike most metals, gold is not magnetic and a real gold bullion coin, bar, or piece of jewellery will not stick to a magnet. Try to pick your gold coin up with a magnet. If you are able to, you know that your coin, bar, or jewellery is made from, or at least contains, one or several other metals. Care should be taken with this method, however, as gold is not the only non-magnetic metal and it a fake coin could well pass this test. We recommend that you use the magnet test alongside one or several of the other tests mentioned in this article to be sure. 2.Testing Gold By Its Sound The ‘ping’ test, as this is commonly known, allows us to tell if a coin is made from real or fake gold by listening to the sound it makes when struck. Precious metals will make a long, high-pitched ringing sound when struck as opposed to base metals, whose respective sounds will be duller and much shorter. Balancing your coin on the end of your finger and tapping it with another coin should make a ringing sound, and the difference between a coin made from pure gold and one made from a non-precious metal should be obvious. 3.Ceramic Test Dragging your gold over a ceramic plate is another quick and uncomplicated way to test your gold. Simply draw your gold across an unglazed ceramic plate, applying slight pressure. If you can see a gold mark on the ceramic once you’ve done this, then the gold is real. However if the mark is black then it is fake.