Is a Troy Ounce the Same as a Regular Ounce?
If you want to buy or sell gold, other precious metals, or gemstones, you will want to check the current ounce price to determine its value. However, don’t think that you can get an accurate dollar amount by weighing your gold on a postage scale, for instance, because an ounce of gold is called a troy ounce and is very different from the avoirdupois ounce that is commonly used in the United States.
It’s very important to know some basic weight terms if you want to understand charts and discussions and news reports about precious metals and gemstones. Therefore, I’ve provided for you a concise glossary of terms below: avoirdupois ounce, troy ounce, grain, and pennyweight.
NOTE: While most of the world uses the metric system, the United States primarily uses the U.S. customary system (also called the American system) to measure weight.



![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/tny_au_en_usoz_2.gif)
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/platinum/tny_pt_en_usoz_2.gif)