How Many Ounces Are in a Pound of Gold?
$60,808 per pound of pure gold (spot)
$4,169.70 per troy ounce · 1 lb = 14.583 troy oz
Gold spot $4,169.70/troy oz · $60,808/lb · updated
Quick answer. There are 14.583 troy ounces in a pound of gold. Gold is always priced and weighed in troy ounces of 31.10 grams, and an ordinary pound (453.59 grams) holds 14.583 of them. It holds 16 ounces only if you count the lighter kitchen ounce of 28.35 grams, which nobody uses for gold. At today's price, a pound of gold is worth $60,808.
| Unit | Grams | Troy ounces | Pennyweights | Pounds (avdp) | Pure gold value today |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 gram | 1 | 0.0322 | 0.643 | 0.0022 | $134.06 |
| 1 pennyweight (dwt) | 1.555 | 0.05 | 1 | 0.0034 | $208.48 |
| 1 kitchen (avdp) ounce | 28.35 | 0.9115 | 18.23 | 0.0625 | $3,800.51 |
| 1 troy ounce | 31.10 | 1 | 20 | 0.0686 | $4,169.70 |
| 1 troy pound | 373.24 | 12 | 240 | 0.8229 | $50,036 |
| 1 pound (avdp) | 453.59 | 14.583 | 291.67 | 1 | $60,808 |
| 1 kilogram | 1,000 | 32.151 | 643.0 | 2.2046 | $134,059 |
What the ×16 Mistake Costs
The single most common gold-pricing error is treating a pound as 16 troy ounces. It overstates a pound by 1.417 troy ounces, which is almost 10%. With gold at $4,169.70 an ounce, that's not a rounding issue:
| If you calculate a pound as… | Troy ounces | Price per pound today | Error |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 × the ounce price | 16.000 | $66,715 | +$5,907 too high |
| 14.583 × the ounce price | 14.583 | $60,808 | correct |
| 12 × the ounce price (troy pound) | 12.000 | $50,036 | a different, obsolete pound |
The error scales with the amount. On ten pounds it's ten times $5,907. It turns up in three places: online listings describing a bar or coin lot "by the pound", back-of-envelope estimates of what a pound of gold is worth, and a few unit converters that don't distinguish between the two kinds of ounce. If a per-pound figure divided by 14.583 gives an ounce price about 10% above spot, the ×16 mistake is almost certainly why.
Why Gold Has Its Own Ounce
Two weight systems have run side by side in the English-speaking world for centuries.
The troy system is the older of the two for trade in precious things. It was the standard for coinage and bullion in medieval England and much of Europe, and its name most likely comes from the market town of Troyes in France. Its ounce is 480 grains (31.10 grams), and the troy pound is 12 of those ounces (373.24 grams). The troy pound fell out of general use in the 1800s; in Britain it was dropped for ordinary trade by the Weights and Measures Act of 1878. The troy ounce survived because gold and silver markets never stopped using it.
The avoirdupois system is the one on your bathroom scale. Its ounce is 437.5 grains (28.35 grams), and 16 of them make the everyday pound of 7,000 grains. Since 1959 that pound has been defined exactly as 0.45359237 kilograms.
So the gold market ended up with a mixed unit that nobody designed: gold is priced per troy ounce, but when people talk about "a pound of gold" they mean the everyday pound. That's the source of 14.583: 7,000 grains ÷ 480 grains = 14.5833 troy ounces per pound.
Notice the odd result: a troy ounce is heavier than an everyday ounce, but a troy pound is lighter than an everyday pound, because the troy pound has only 12 ounces.
Grams and Pennyweights: the Units the Gold Trade Actually Uses
Outside the bullion market, gold is rarely weighed in ounces at all.
- Grams are standard for jewelry in most of the world and for small bars (1 g to 100 g). A pound is 453.59 grams, so a gram of pure gold is worth $134.06 today.
- Pennyweights (dwt) are still the working unit of many US jewelers, pawn shops and scrap gold buyers. One pennyweight is 1/20 of a troy ounce (1.555 grams), so a pound is 291.67 dwt. If a buyer quotes you "per penny", that's what they mean.
When you sell or buy gold by weight, confirm the unit before you compare prices. A quote per gram and a quote per pennyweight differ by a factor of 1.555, which is easy to miss on a counter slip.
Reading Gold Listings Without Getting Caught
- "1 lb gold bar." A true pound bar holds 14.583 troy ounces. Very few are made; see our 1 lb gold bar guide. A bar stamped "16 oz" holds 16 troy ounces, which is about 9.7% more gold than a pound.
- "1 oz" on a coin. Government bullion coins state their gold content, not their total weight. A 1 oz American Gold Eagle weighs 33.93 grams because it's 22-karat, but it contains exactly one troy ounce of gold.
- Kitchen-scale weights. If you weigh your own gold on a food scale set to ounces, the reading is in avoirdupois ounces. Multiply by 0.9115 to get troy ounces, or switch the scale to grams.
- Troy pound in converters. Some online converters offer a "troy pound" option. It's 12 troy ounces, and no one prices gold in it today.
Worked Examples
Ounces in 3 pounds of gold. 3 × 14.583 = 43.75 troy ounces.
Pounds in 100 troy ounces. 100 ÷ 14.583 = 6.86 pounds, worth $416,970 at spot, the size of one COMEX futures contract.
A kitchen-scale reading of 8 oz. 8 × 0.9115 = 7.29 troy ounces, which is half a pound: $30,404 if it's pure gold.
Related Pages
FAQ
Is a pound of gold 16 ounces?
Only in kitchen ounces. In troy ounces, the unit gold is priced in, a pound of gold is 14.583 ounces.
How many troy ounces are in a pound?
14.5833, exactly 175/12. It comes from 7,000 grains in a pound divided by 480 grains in a troy ounce.
What is a troy pound?
An old unit of 12 troy ounces (373.24 grams), about 18% lighter than an ordinary pound. It isn't used to price gold today.
How many grams of gold are in a pound?
453.59 grams.
How many pennyweights are in a pound of gold?
291.67. A pennyweight is one-twentieth of a troy ounce.
Data sources: Spot price via api.gold-api.com · COMEX futures (GC=F) via Yahoo Finance. Prices are for informational purposes only and may be delayed. Figures on this page were generated . Gold is quoted in US dollars per troy ounce; this site converts at 14.583 troy ounces per avoirdupois pound.