{"id":20260,"date":"2026-10-05T05:43:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T04:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/glossary\/fineness\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T07:46:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T06:46:17","slug":"fineness","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/glossary\/fineness\/","title":{"rendered":"Fineness"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mrf-gl\"><p class=\"gl-def\">Fineness is the share of pure gold, silver or platinum in a coin or bar, written in parts per thousand, such as 999.9 for 99.99% pure gold. It tells you how much of the weight is precious metal and how much is alloy.<\/p><aside class=\"panel gl-live\"><p class=\"gl-live-h\">\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa Today in Australia<\/p><div class=\"gl-row\"><span>Gold, 1 troy ounce (spot)<\/span><b>A$5,993<\/b><\/div><div class=\"gl-row\"><span>Cheapest 1 oz gold coin: <a href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/product\/1-oz-kangaroo-gold-coin\/\">1 oz Kangaroo Gold Coin<\/a><\/span><b>A$6,182<\/b> <small>+3.3% premium<\/small><\/div><p class=\"gl-src\">Data as of 05.10.2026, updated daily.<\/p><a class=\"btn primary\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/cheapest-gold-coins\/\">Compare gold coin prices \u203a<\/a><\/aside><div class=\"gl-body\"><h2>How fineness is written<\/h2><p>Fineness uses a scale of 1,000. A stamp of 999.9 (often shown as \"9999\") means 999.9 parts in every 1,000 are gold, or 99.99%. Australian bullion is usually marked this way rather than in <a href=\"karat}}\">carats<\/a>, which belong to jewellery.<\/p><table><thead><tr><th>Mark<\/th><th>Purity<\/th><th>Typical Australian example<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>999.9<\/td><td>99.99%<\/td><td>Perth Mint Kangaroo gold and silver coins, Lunar Series III<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>999<\/td><td>99.9%<\/td><td>Many cast silver bars, silver Krugerrand<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>995<\/td><td>99.5%<\/td><td>Minimum for LBMA Good Delivery gold bars<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>916.7<\/td><td>91.67% (22 ct)<\/td><td>Gold Krugerrand, American Gold Eagle<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>750<\/td><td>75% (18 ct)<\/td><td>Fine jewellery<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><h2>Why fineness matters more in Australia<\/h2><p>In most countries fineness only affects how much metal you get. In Australia it also decides the GST treatment. Gold must be at least 99.5% fine, silver at least 99.9% and platinum at least 99%, in investment form, to be \"precious metal\" under the GST Act. Clear that bar and the sale carries no GST; miss it and 10% GST usually applies. That is why a 916.7 Krugerrand often costs more in Australia than a 999.9 Kangaroo with the same fine gold content. The full rules are in <a href=\"investment-gold-tax}}\">GST on gold<\/a>.<\/p><p>Worked example with fixed numbers: a 100 g cast bar marked 999.9 holds 99.99 g of fine gold. A 100 g item at 916.7 holds 91.67 g. The 8.32 g gap is roughly a quarter of a troy ounce, which is why you should always compare price per gram of fine metal, not per gram of the object. Our <a href=\"\/au\/charts\/gold-price\/gold-price-per-gram\/\">gold price per gram in AUD<\/a> shows the fine-metal benchmark.<\/p><h2>Who checks the marks in Australia?<\/h2><p>Unlike the United Kingdom, Australia has no government assay office that tests and hallmarks every item. Marks on coins and bars are applied by the mint or refiner itself, so the name behind the stamp matters. Coins from The Perth Mint are Australian legal tender and bars from LBMA-accredited refiners carry a recognised brand; read more under <a href=\"lbma}}\">LBMA Good Delivery<\/a>. False claims about what goods are made of breach the Australian Consumer Law, but that is enforced after the fact, not at the counter.<\/p><p>For private sales and second-hand coins, checking weight, diameter and thickness against the mint's specification is the first defence. Our guide to spotting a <a href=\"\/au\/how-to-spot-fake-coins\/gold-kangaroo\/\">fake gold Kangaroo<\/a> walks through those tests. When buying new, a reputable dealer listed in our <a href=\"\/au\/cheapest-gold-coins\/\">gold coin price comparison<\/a> removes most of that risk.<\/p><\/div><h2>Related terms<\/h2><p class=\"gl-chips\"><a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/glossary\/carat\/\">Carat (Gold Purity)<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/glossary\/gst-on-gold\/\">GST on Gold and Silver in Australia<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/glossary\/lbma-good-delivery\/\">LBMA Good Delivery<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/glossary\/troy-ounce\/\">Troy Ounce<\/a><\/p><section class=\"mrf-faq\"><h2>FAQ<\/h2><div class=\"faq-list\"><details open><summary><h3>What does 9999 mean on gold?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>It means the gold is 999.9 parts per 1,000 pure, or 99.99% gold, which is the standard for Perth Mint bullion coins.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details><summary><h3>Is 999 silver GST-free in Australia?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>Yes, silver of at least 99.9% fineness in bar, wafer or coin form meets the GST definition of precious metal and is sold without GST.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details><summary><h3>Does Australia hallmark gold?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>No, Australia has no government assay office, so purity marks are applied by the mint, refiner or maker rather than an independent hallmarking body.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section><details class=\"gl-src-list\"><summary>Sources<\/summary><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislation.gov.au\/C2004A00446\/latest\/text\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999, ss 38-385, 40-100 and 195-1 (Federal Register of Legislation)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ato.gov.au\/law\/view\/pdf\/pbr\/gstr2003-010.pdf\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ATO, Goods and Services Tax Ruling GSTR 2003\/10: What is precious metal?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.perthmint.com\/shop\/bullion\/bullion-coins\/australian-kangaroo-2026-1oz-gold-bullion-coin\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Perth Mint: Australian Kangaroo 1oz Gold Bullion Coin<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/guides.slv.vic.gov.au\/hallmarking\/assaying\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">State Library Victoria: Hallmarking research guide, assaying<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accc.gov.au\/consumers\/advertising-and-promotions\/false-or-misleading-claims\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ACCC: False or misleading claims<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lbma.org.uk\/good-delivery\/about-good-delivery\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">LBMA: About Good Delivery<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/details><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"parent":20236,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","_glsr_average":0,"_glsr_ranking":0,"_glsr_reviews":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20260","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/"},"comment_info":0,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20348,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20260\/revisions\/20348"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}