{"id":21078,"date":"2026-10-10T06:24:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T05:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/glossary\/fineness\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T06:24:40","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T05:24:40","slug":"fineness","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/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\udde8\ud83c\udde6 Today in Canada<\/p><div class=\"gl-row\"><span>Gold, 1 troy ounce (spot)<\/span><b>5,970 CAD<\/b><\/div><p class=\"gl-src\">Data as of 10.10.2026, updated daily.<\/p><a class=\"btn primary\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/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%. Bullion is usually marked this way, while jewellery in Canada is usually marked in <a href=\"karat}}\">karats<\/a> or in decimals such as .583 for 14K.<\/p><table><thead><tr><th>Mark<\/th><th>Purity<\/th><th>Typical example<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>999.9<\/td><td>99.99%<\/td><td>Royal Canadian Mint Gold and Silver Maple Leaf<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>999<\/td><td>99.9%<\/td><td>Many cast silver bars; the minimum for silver to count as precious metal for GST\/HST<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>995<\/td><td>99.5%<\/td><td>Minimum for LBMA Good Delivery gold bars and for gold to count as precious metal for GST\/HST<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>916.7<\/td><td>91.67% (22K)<\/td><td>Gold Krugerrand, American Gold Eagle<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>750<\/td><td>75% (18K)<\/td><td>Fine jewellery<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>583<\/td><td>58.3% (14K)<\/td><td>Jewellery<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>416<\/td><td>41.6% (10K)<\/td><td>Jewellery<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><h2>Why fineness matters more in Canada<\/h2><p>In most places fineness only affects how much metal you get. In Canada it also decides the GST\/HST treatment. Gold and platinum must be at least 99.5% pure and silver at least 99.9%, in bar, ingot, coin or wafer form, to be \"precious metal\" under the Excise Tax Act. Clear that line and the sale is generally exempt; miss it and GST or HST usually applies at your province's rate. That is why a 916.7 Krugerrand often costs more than a 999.9 Maple Leaf with the same fine gold content. The full rules are in <a href=\"investment-gold-tax}}\">GST\/HST 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=\"\/ca\/charts\/gold-price\/gold-price-per-gram\/\">gold price per gram in CAD<\/a> shows the fine-metal benchmark.<\/p><h2>Who checks the marks in Canada?<\/h2><p>Under the Precious Metals Marking Act, marking an article for quality is not mandatory. If a maker or importer does apply a quality mark, it must also apply a registered Canadian trademark, and the Competition Bureau sets the tolerances: for gold, the article can fall short of the mark by no more than 3 parts per 1,000 without solder. Canada has no compulsory hallmarking, so the name behind the stamp matters.<\/p><p>For bullion, buy products whose maker is easy to verify. Royal Canadian Mint bullion coins carry security features such as radial lines and a micro-engraved maple leaf mark, and bars from refiners on the <a href=\"lbma}}\">LBMA Good Delivery<\/a> list carry a recognized brand. For second-hand coins, checking weight, diameter and thickness against the mint's specification is the first defence. Our guide to spotting a <a href=\"\/ca\/how-to-spot-fake-coins\/gold-maple-leaf\/\">fake Gold Maple Leaf<\/a> walks through those tests. When buying new, a dealer listed in our <a href=\"\/ca\/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\/ca\/glossary\/carat\/\">Carat or Karat (Gold Purity)<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/glossary\/gst-hst-on-gold\/\">GST\/HST on Gold and Silver in Canada<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/glossary\/lbma-good-delivery\/\">LBMA Good Delivery<\/a> <a class=\"gl-chip\" href=\"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/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 the Royal Canadian Mint's Gold Maple Leaf.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details><summary><h3>Is 999 silver exempt from GST\/HST in Canada?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>Yes, silver of at least 99.9% purity in bar, ingot, coin or wafer form meets the definition of precious metal, and its sale is generally exempt.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details><summary><h3>Does Canada hallmark gold?<\/h3><\/summary><div class=\"a\"><p>Not compulsorily. Quality marking is voluntary under the Precious Metals Marking Act, but an article that carries a quality mark must also carry a registered Canadian trademark.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section><details class=\"gl-src-list\"><summary>Sources<\/summary><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/laws-lois.justice.gc.ca\/eng\/acts\/E-15\/section-123.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Excise Tax Act, section 123: definition of precious metal (Justice Laws Website)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/revenue-agency\/services\/forms-publications\/publications\/17-1\/definition-financial-instrument.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Canada Revenue Agency, GST\/HST Memorandum 17.1: Definition of financial instrument (precious metals, paras 29 to 38)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mint.ca\/en\/shop\/bullion-products\/2022-50-1-oz-99-99-pure-gold-coin-gml-bullion\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Royal Canadian Mint: 1 oz 99.99% pure Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/competition-bureau.canada.ca\/en\/labelling\/guide-precious-metals-marking-act-and-regulations\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Competition Bureau Canada: Guide to the Precious Metals Marking Act and Regulations<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/competition-bureau.canada.ca\/en\/labelling\/precious-metals\/detailed-requirements-marking-precious-metals\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Competition Bureau Canada: Detailed requirements for marking of precious metals<\/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":21075,"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-21078","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/"},"comment_info":0,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21078\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metalsradar.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}