Fineness

How fineness is written

Fineness uses a scale of 1,000. A mark of 999 means 999 parts in every 1,000 are gold, or 99.9%. Bullion is usually marked this way. Jewellery in India carries both the carat and the fineness in its BIS hallmark, for example 22K916.

IBJA publishes separate daily gold rates for 999, 995, 916, 750 and 585, which shows how the market prices each grade.

Not every 24K coin is the same

Indian dealers sell both 995 and 999 gold as "24K". The difference is small but real. Worked example with fixed numbers: a 10 g coin at 999 holds 9.99 g of fine gold, a 10 g coin at 995 holds 9.95 g, and a 10 g coin at 916 holds 9.16 g. Between the two 24K coins the gap is 0.04 g, or 0.4%. Between 999 and 916 it is 0.83 g. Read the purity on the product page and compare the price per gram of fine gold with our gold price per gram in INR. Note that GST is 3% whatever the purity; see GST on gold.

BIS hallmarks and the HUID code

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) runs India's hallmarking scheme. Hallmarking means testing and officially recording the precious metal content of an article.

• Jewellery and artefacts: a Government of India order of 23 June 2021 made hallmarking of gold jewellery and artefacts mandatory in notified districts, and coverage has grown in phases since. In March 2026 BIS said mandatory hallmarking covers six grades: 14, 18, 20, 22, 23 and 24 karat. A 9 karat grade exists but is voluntary.
• The mark: since 1 July 2021 a gold hallmark has three parts: the BIS logo, the purity in carat and fineness (such as 22K916, 18K750 or 14K585) and a six-character alphanumeric HUID code unique to the piece. You can check a HUID with the Verify HUID feature in the BIS CARE app.
• Bars and coins: the mandatory order is about jewellery and artefacts. For gold bullion and coins of 995 and 999 fineness, BIS licenses refineries and mints that apply the hallmark during manufacture.
• Silver jewellery: the Indian standard for silver lists six grades: 990, 970, 925, 900, 835 and 800.

For bullion, a well-known refiner matters as much as the stamp. Bars from refiners on the LBMA Good Delivery list carry an internationally recognised brand. When buying online, the dealers in our gold coin price comparison state the purity of each product.