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What is the quality of your silver?


​We are often asked which form of silver is the best buy. While we do not recommend one specific brand or size, we do have one important bit of advice: know who makes your silver. Ultimately, if you have to sell your rounds or barter with them, owning recognized brands is important. Silver minted by top names are highly liquid and readily accepted in the marketplace. Silver made by lesser-known companies can be difficult to sell even if they contain the proper weight and purity.


One ounce rounds and 10 ounce bards are an extremely popular way of owning silver. Investors are drawn to them for their convenient sizes and low premiums. Rounds can be bought for a lower premium than government coins—and they’re available in smaller denominations compared to most silver bars. For these reasons, ounce silver and ten ounce bars are our top sellers.

Our criteria for private mints and refineries is simple: each brand must be ISO-9000 and/or LBMA certified. The mint facility must be recognized by an outside entity for meeting high quality standards. ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, certifies that mints are meeting their stated weights and purities. If an ISO-approved facility says a silver round is one ounce and 99.9% pure, you can rest assured that the product meets its stated claims.

LBMA certification means that a refinery is approved by the London Bullion Market Association. LBMA products are accepted as “good delivery” in the London bullion market—a testament to the quality and liquidity of the bullion. Like ISO certification, LBMA approval is considered a stringent standard to which only the world’s top facilities adhere.

At Gold & Silver Exchange we buy our silver from ISO and/or LBMA approved facilities. We guarantee our silver and gold  meets or exceeds industry standards.


What is the difference a troy ounce and regular ounce?


What exactly is a regular ounce? We learned in elementary school that an ounce is 1/16 of a pound. When we visit a grocery store and ask for half-a-pound of lunch meat, we expect to receive eight ounces in return. This common unit of measure is known as an avoirdupois ounce. It is used for measurements not involving precious metals (gold, silver, platinum) or gunpowder.

First-time precious metals buyers are often confused by the difference between a troy ounce and a regular" ounce, especially when their 100 oz silver bar actually weighs 6.85 lbs on the scale instead of 6.25 lbs. Did they receive more silver than they paid for? The answer lies in an antiquated system of measurement still used today for precious metals known as troy weights.

The troy ounce was retained from the Roman system for these four commodities in order to preserve the standards previously set across time, as the two-system standard would have created problems for the monetary system of the day.

A troy ounce is 1/12 of a troy pound. A troy pound is actually lighter than an avoirdupois pound. The troy ounce (480 grains) is heavier than the avoirdupois ounce (437.5 grains). A grain is 64.79891 milligrams; therefore one troy ounce is 31.103 grams. This measures out to be about 10 percent more than the avoirdupois ounce, which is 28.349 grams.

In closing, a troy ounce is about 10% heavier than a regular ounce.

1 troy ounce = 1.09714286 ounces (avoirdupois)