What scale should I buy for gold and silver?

Readability isn't accuracy

• Readability is the smallest step the display shows, such as 0.01 g. It's the number scale makers advertise.
• Accuracy is how close the reading is to the true weight. A scale can show two decimals and still be off by more than that.
• Repeatability is whether the same item reads the same each time you weigh it. Weigh one coin three times: the readings should match.

Even a sealed, legal-for-trade scale that reads to 0.01 g may be off by 0.01 g on small loads and 0.02 g once the load passes 50 g, under the national weights-and-measures rules (NIST Handbook 44). A cheap pocket scale has no such promise.

Which scale for which job

Very light items weigh less reliably: the national rules suggest weighing at least 20 scale steps, which is 0.2 g on a 0.01 g scale. Weigh tiny pieces together, not one at a time.

What a small error costs

At today's prices, 0.1 g of pure gold is worth $12.62, and 0.01 g is worth $1.26. The same 0.1 g of pure silver is worth $0.16. That's why 0.01 g matters for gold and hardly matters for silver. The formula: grams ÷ 31.1035 × the price per ounce × the purity (14K is 0.583).

Units to look for

• Grams (g) are the easiest to work with.
• Troy ounces (ozt): 31.1035 g. A plain "oz" on a kitchen scale is the ordinary ounce, 28.35 g; see troy ounce vs ounce.
• Pennyweight (dwt): 1.5552 g, used by jewelers. 20 dwt make a troy ounce.
• Grains (gr): 64.799 mg; 480 make a troy ounce.
• Carats (ct): 200 mg, for gemstones, not gold purity. See karat vs carat.

Checking it with a calibration weight

Most 0.01 g scales come with, or call for, a 100 g or 200 g calibration weight. A weight's class sets how close to true it is. For a 0.01 g scale, choose OIML class F2 or better, or ASTM class 4 or better; at 100 g, an F2 weight is within 1.6 milligrams. Handle it with tongs or plastic gloves, since skin oil adds weight.

A nickel is only a rough check: the Mint makes it at 5.00 g, but the law allows each one to be 0.194 g off.

Getting a good reading

• Firm, level surface, away from fans, heating vents, and open windows.
• Warm it up for a few minutes, and load and unload it a few times before weighing.
• Same temperature: let metal from a cold car or safe warm to room temperature.
• Keep magnets and phones away from the scale.
• Zero it, and tare any dish before you add the metal. Plastic dishes can carry static in dry air; a metal or glass dish is better.

When you sell: check the buyer's scale

A business that buys by weight must use a scale approved for trade, tested, and sealed by the county weights-and-measures office. In California, the seal must be where the customer can see it, with the inspection date. Weights-and-measures offices tell sellers to:

• Watch the weighing, and make sure the display reads zero first.
• Look for a seal dated within the last year.
• Make sure the price is per the unit you think it is: grams, pennyweight, and troy ounces give very different numbers. See troy ounces, grams, and pennyweight.

"NTEP approved" means the scale's design passed national type testing; each scale still has to be tested and sealed where it's used. And a home scale sold as "NIST certified" isn't: NIST says it doesn't certify other parties' products.

Sources

• NIST, Handbook 44 (2026), section 2.20 (scales) and Appendix C (units); NIST, GMP 10, weighing operation factors; NIST on traceability.
• OIML, R 111-1 (weight classes); California Department of Food and Agriculture, notice M-08-02 and notice D-10-01R on gold buyers.
• California Business and Professions Code §§12500–12508; City of San Francisco, commercial weighing devices; Michigan Department of Agriculture, buying and selling gold.
• 31 U.S.C. §5113 (coin weight tolerances).

Equipment: What equipment do you need? · How to weigh gold at home · Calipers and coin gauges · Jeweler's loupe · All guides

We pay top dollar for gold, at published rates set before you sell.