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GOLD COINS date back to 560 B.C., when King Croesus of Lydia struck the first pure gold coin to be used as a medium of exchange. Croesus guaranteed the coins’ value by stamping them with his  insignia.

GOLD FILLED is made by joining a sheet of gold alloy over a base of metal alloy. The minimum of gold weight must be 1/20 of the weight of the piece.  The gold content is qualified, such as 10K gold filled, 12K gold filled or 14K gold filled. Gold filled is abbreviated "GF", such as, as 10KGF.

ROLLED GOLD PLATE is similar to gold filled but usually using less gold. If the gold comprises less than 1/20 of the total metal weight, the fraction must be used with the stamp such as 1/40 14K RGP.

GOLD ELECTROPLATE is usually made by electrolytically depositing gold on base metal. The FTC has ruled that the karat mark alone cannot be used to refer to an electroplated item; it must always state clearly that the item is plated.

PLATINUM is strong enough to be used almost pure. The common jewelry alloy is 95% pure platinum and 5% of either Iridium or Palladium, both "sister" metals of the platinum group. The other platinum metals are Rhodium, Osmium and Ruthenium.

STERLING SILVER is 925/1000 (92 1/2%) pure silver and 75/1000 (7 1/2%) copper. Not to leave any doubt; Sterling Silver is always 925/1000 pure silver. The term Sterling Silver should never be abbreviated.

COIN SILVER is 900/1000 (90%) pure silver and 10/1000 (10%) copper. The same alloy is used for U.S. silver coins. The term Coin Silver should never be abbreviated.

SILVER-PLATED WARE is made by electroplating pure silver on a base of metal alloy -- usually nickel silver or Britannia metal or, sometimes brass or copper. The term "Sterling Plate" or "Coin Plate" is prohibited. By the way, old unusable silver plated items are worthless; it costs more to refine the siver out than the value of silver.

VERMEIL (pronounced ver-MAY) is sterling silver with a  karat gold plating,  14K or 18K, either mechanically or electrically applied.

SHEFFIELD PLATE (The Original) was made by soldering sheet silver on to copper, then rolling it and making it into hollow ware. Imitations are made by electroplating silver on copper.

NICKEL SILVER -- so called -- is a composition of nickel, copper and zinc. It contains no silver.

GERMAN SILVER -- a misleading name -- the same as nickel silver. It also contains no silver.

BRITANNIA METAL is a composition of tin, copper and antimony.

PEWTER originally was primarily a lead alloy. It is now made with a tin, copper, antimony composition and is  similar to Britannia metal.

GRAIN originally meant the weight of a grain of wheat. It was later standardized for trading purposes but is seldom used now. Most weight is measured in ounces and pennyweights.

A PENNYWEIGHT is the twentieth of a troy ounce, it is abbreviated as dwt. The name originally applied to the weight of an Anglo-Norman penny.

British Imperial System (Troy) used for gold.         

USA customary System- US  Pound Avoirdupois

24 GRAINS   =  1 pennyweight (dwt.)

20 PENNYWEIGHT  (dwt.) = 1 troy ounce

12 TROY OUNCES  =  1 troy pound

1 GRAM  =  0.643 dwt.

1.55517 GRAM  =  1 dwt.

1 KILOGRAM  =  32.15076 troy ounces

1 TROY LB = 0.88228  Avoirdupois pound

1 TROY OUNCE = 31.1035 Grams

1 U.S. OUNCE = 28.3495 Grams

1 U.S. POUND = 453.592 Grams