Carat (fineness)
| Auxiliary unit of measure | |
|---|---|
| Unit name | carat |
| Unit symbol | |
| Type | quotient |
| definition | |
| Named after | french le carat |
| See also: Lot | |
The carat (abbreviation kt or C ) is a unit of measurement for the fineness of gold . The term is derived from the metric carat , which is still used today for gemstones.
history
Since late antiquity, the gold content of coins has been measured in the proportions of the mass of a coin that gold accounted for. The most valuable coin, the solidus , had a fineness of almost 24 carats. The mass and value of a keration was 1 ⁄ 24 of a solidus, so the number of keratia gold that made up the coin also determined its fineness.
In Germany the carat used to be a small gold weight, the 24th part of a mark (unit of weight for determining the fineness of gold). 1 carat usually consisted of 12 grän as a subunit.
use
The term carat is used to indicate the fineness of gold and indicates how large the weight percentage of pure gold is in the total mass of a gold alloy . Gold is mainly processed together with silver and copper .
The gold content of an alloy in carats corresponds to the percentage by weight in 1/24 parts:
- One carat gold contains 1/24 part by weight of gold (= 4.167%).
- 24 carat gold contains 24/24 parts by weight of gold. However, since it is practically impossible for technical reasons to completely eliminate possible impurities, a purity of 99.99% is specified for 24-carat gold.
As an alternative to carats, the purity of processed gold is also given in 1/1000 parts. For example, 585 gold corresponds to a gold content of 585/1000 = 0.585 = 58.5% or 14 carats. 24 carat gold has a fineness of 99.99% and is therefore designated as 999.9 .
Usual fineness
| carat | Trade names |
Weight percent gold [%] |
Density [g / cm³] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | Gold 999 Feingold Fine Gold Pure Gold Chuk Kam modern investment coins |
99.99 | 19.3 |
| 23.2 | Gold 965 Thai gold |
96.5 | |
| 22nd | Gold 916 Crown Gold England, South Africa, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Sri Lanka and Arab countries |
91.67 | |
| 21.6 | Gold 900 coin gold |
90.0 | 17.5 |
| 21st | Gold 875 Arab countries in the Gulf region |
87.5 | |
| 18th | Gold 750 | 75.0 | 15.1-15.9 |
| 14th | Gold 585 | 58.5 | 13.1-13.6 |
| 9 | Gold 375 | 37.5 | approx. 11.2 |
| 8th | Gold 333 | 33.33 | 10.5-10.9 |
There are also many other classifications that have mostly become uncommon (e.g. 500), are not used in Germany (e.g. 840 in France) or have not been able to establish themselves on the market due to their properties (e.g. . 250).
The abbreviation kt is often used for carats as gold . The abbreviation C is also found in the case of clock imprints .
The fineness of silver is not given in carats. Instead, a 16-part scale was used there, the so-called solderiness .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Trapp : Small manual of the dimensions, numbers, weights and the time calculation. Reclam, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-89836-198-5 .