The Goldtotem glossary offers easy-understandable definitions of terminologies used in currency / e-currency transactions and in the precious metal market and investing.


ABA number: it is a 9-digit American Bankers Association number (also known as a transit routing number) that identifies your banking account within the United States banking system.

Arbitrage: simultaneously buying and selling a commodity in different markets to take advantage of price differentials.

Ask: the price at which a dealer offers to sell.

AGG: this symbol means gram(s) of silver. It is a combination of the symbol of silver (Ag) and the letter used to indicate that the unit of weight measurement being applied is by grams (G).

AUG: this symbol means gram(s) of gold. It is a combination of the symbol of gold (Au) and the letter used to indicate that the unit of weight measurement being applied is by grams (G).

Avoirdupois: a system of weights for commodities except precious metals, stones, and drugs. One avoirdupois ounce equals 28.35 grams or 437.50 grains.

Bailment: this term refers to the changing of a bullion (physical form of a precious metal) into a type of e-currency. The two following terms "bail" and "unbail" are mainly used by 1MDC for the conversions to/from e-gold.

BIC: it is an 8 or 11-digit combination of letters and numbers, which allows the identification of the beneficiary's bank upon processing international payment (also known as a SWIFT code).

Bid: the price at which a dealer is willing to buy.

Bullion: this term refers to a precious metal that has been formed into a particular shape (a bar, coin, ingot or wafer). Precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum and palladium are stored in bullion forms of bars that are at least 99.5% pure.

Bullion coin: a coin with a symbolic face value but trades at a price relative to its intrinsic value.

Call: the right, but not an obligation, to buy a commodity or a financial security on a specified date in the future.

Correspondent bank fees: there are costs for any international payment. The fees are borne either by the beneficiary (the funds' receiver) or by the remitter (the funds' sender). A third option is the shared costs.

E-currency: it is a currency used as an electronic form of payment. Some e-currencies are backed by precious metal (Digital Gold Currencies - DGCs - like e-gold, Pecunix, 1mdc / Digital Silver Currencies - DSCs - like e-silver) while others are backed by national currency (Paypal).

Exchanger: it is an organization like Goldtotem that operates exchanges to/from national currencies and digital currencies in accordance with local law. Other spellings currently used online: market maker, efund provider or e-currency exchange provider.

Fiat currency: it is any currency without backing in gold or in other commodity (USD, CAD and Euro for example are now pure fiat). Their relative value does not imply intrinsic value in contrast to the e-currencies backed on metals.

Fineness: the purity of a precious metal measured in 1,000 parts of an alloy: a gold bar of .995 fineness contains 995 parts gold and 5 parts of another metal.

Gold lease rate: this is the cost of borrowing gold, the daily level of which reflects the supply and demand for metal in the lending market.

Grain: earliest weight unit for gold. One troy ounce contains 480 grains.

Gram: the basic unit of weight of the metric system (31.1035 grams = one troy ounce).

Hallmark: mark or stamp on a bullion item that identifies the producer.

Hawala: it is an alternative money remittance system. This informal fund transfer (IFT), also known under the names of Hundi or Chitti, is an informal channel for transferring funds from one location to another through service providers (hawaladars) regardless of the nature of the transaction and the countries involved.

IBAN: the International Bank Account Number is the international standardised format for client's existing account number.
 
IEMM: an Independent Exchange Market Maker is not affiliated, nor owns any shares or stock in any of the gold providers or online currencies it deals with.
 
InExchange: it is the process to convert any national currency to any digital currency (e-currency). Other spellings currently used online: InXchange or InX.

InterExchange: it is the conversion from one e-currency to another one. Furthermore, Omnipay uses the term M2M (e-metal to e-metal) to describe this exchange.

Karat: a measure of the purity of a precious metal. Pure gold is 24 karat.

Liquidity: the quality of being readily convertible into cash.

LBMA: the London Bullion Market Association.

LME: the London Metal Exchange (for non-ferrous metal trading).

LPMM: the London Platinum and Palladium Market.

NYMEX: the New York Mercantile Exchange, a future exchange where platinum and palladium are traded.

Ounce: a unit of weight. In the precious metals industry, an ounce means a troy ounce equal to 31.1035 grams.

OutExchange: it is the process to convert any digital currency (e-currency) to any national currency. Other spellings currently used online: OutXchange or OutX.

Put: an option that gives the owner to right to sell a commodity or a financial security on a specified date in the future.

Redemption: this term means changing an e-currency into bullion form.
 
Secured instrument: it is a payment document issued by a financial institution irrevocably payable against its own funds: money order, bank draft, cash deposit, bank wire or electronic funds.

Spend: this term means you take out funds (value of e-currency) from your account and transfer this to another account.

Spot: the price for the physical delivery of bullion bars, usually 100-oz bars of gold or platinum and 1,000-oz bars of silver.

Spot market: a market in which delivery and payment have to be made within two working days of the transaction date.

Spread: the difference between the buying price and the selling price of a precious metal coin or trading unit.

TOCOM: the world’s leading gold futures markets in Tokyo.

Troy ounce: unit of weight for precious metals. One troy ounce equals 31.1035 grams or 480 grains. One troy ounce equals 1.09711 avoirdupois ounce.

Yield: a measure of the annual return on an investment expressed as a percentage.