Bullion minimum fineness

F

fixxation

New Member
Quick question guys, I read this somewhere in Wikipedia but cannot find it now.

For something to be classified as true bullion, whether it's a coin or a bar - is it correct that the fineness/purity would have to be at least a single nine fine (.9) - and does this go for all metal types?

Cheers,
fixxation
 
don't know if there is a true definitions but i would regard bullions as .999 fine

I have some bars that are measured in grain and have .800 fine silver on them but i would not class these as bullion

Just a personal opinion
 
Australian customs say:

Only gold (99.5% fine), silver (99.9% fine) and platinum (99% fine) in an investment form are precious metals under the GST Act. (Fineness quoted is the minimum that applies)
Click to expand...
 
^^^Same for the EU- minimum purity for bullion gold bars is a millesimal fineness of 99.5% and 90% for bullion coins. Though not sure what it's called if it's anything less than those percentages... Bullioff? :/

Gold Good Delivery Bars minimum requirement is 99.5 and 3 9's fine for silver so would use that as a guide.
 
I dont know Id regard pre 68 canadian coins and 66 round aussie 50s as bullion even though theyre .800 clad kennedies too at .400 but for gst purposes different rules apply.
 
The international standard for "Fine";

Fine Silver = 999
Fine Gold = 9999
Fine Platinum = 9995

Not to be confused with the definition of "Bullion" which is different country to country
 
Personal opinion tells me that .9 fineness wouldn't fit the bill of being bullion for me.

For gold and silver bullion, I would consider .99 to be the bare minimum starting point, and probably wouldn't stack that purity unless there was a compelling price reason to do so over and above .999

Consider that .925 is sterling silver (which I personally don't consider bullion, that sits in the "Junk Silver" category for me, together with coins with silver content etc).
 
Straight from Wikipedia on gold fineness (Modified to aid understanding)

- 990 (two nines fine)

- 995 The minimum gold fineness accepted for settlement in the wholesale London bullion market

- 999 (three nines fine) E.g., Chinese Panda coins

- 999.9 (four nines fine) E.g., ordinary Canadian Gold Maple Leaf and American Buffalo coins

- 999.99 (five nines fine) The purest type of gold currently produced; the Royal Canadian Mint regularly produces commemorative coins in this fineness

- 999.999 (six nines fine) The purest gold ever produced. Refined by the Perth Mint in 1957
 
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