The pound the board means

The Ghana Gold Board publishes an approved purchase price per pound, but it never states what that pound weighs. The traditional Ghanaian gold pound is not the avoirdupois pound of 453.6 grams. This page explains what a seller should ask to see in writing.

The pound is a trade unit, not a fixed weight

In Ghana, gold has long been traded in a unit called a pound. That unit is not the international avoirdupois pound of 453.6 grams. Its weight has varied by region and over time, and the Ghana Gold Board does not publish the weight it uses. The board's approved purchase price is per pound, but the pound's weight is left unstated.

That silence matters because a seller is paid by the gram after assay. A buyer's scale will weigh the metal in grams, not in pounds. The buyer will then apply the assayed fineness and the price per gram. The pound is a headline unit, but the transaction is done in grams.

The implied weight is a derived figure

Because the board does not state the pound's weight, this site works out the weight implied by the board's own published figures. The pound price divided by the gram price that follows from the same LBMA price and cedi reference rate gives an implied weight. That weight is labelled as implied, and it is the best available reading of what the board means by a pound.

A seller should not assume that a physical pound of gold will weigh exactly the implied figure. The traditional unit has been used loosely, and a buyer's scale is the only weight that matters for payment. The implied weight is a check on the board's arithmetic, not a promise about any particular lot.

The assay and the fineness decide the payment

A licensed buyer will assay the gold to determine its fineness. The GoldBod approved purchase price is for gold of a stated fineness, and the buyer will pay on the actual fineness after assay. The weight in grams is multiplied by the fineness and the price per gram. The pound price is only the starting point.

A seller should ask for the assay result in writing. The assay report should show the fineness, the weight in grams, and the price per gram used. Without those, a seller cannot check whether the payment matches the approved price. The board's page shows the headline, but the assay is what determines the actual amount.

The troy ounce and the gram are the other units

The troy ounce is the international unit for gold, used for the LBMA price. The gram is the unit a licensed buyer's scale will use. The pound is the board's unit. All three are related, but the pound's weight is not fixed, so the relationship is not a simple one.

A reader who is used to the troy ounce should not expect the pound price to be a simple multiple of the ounce price. The implied weight shown on this site is the link, but it is a derived figure. A reader who is used to grams should look at the gram figure as the closest to a local transaction, but should remember that the buyer will assay and pay on fineness.

What to ask to see in writing

Before handing over gold, a seller should ask the licensed buyer for a written offer that shows the weight in grams, the fineness after assay, the price per gram, and the total in cedis. The offer should also state the reference rate used and any discount applied to the LBMA price. That written offer is the basis for comparing with the approved price on the board's page.

A buyer who will not put the terms in writing should be avoided. The GoldBod approved purchase price is the minimum, but a buyer's slip may differ because the fineness is lower than the board's stated fineness, or because the weight is different. The written offer makes those adjustments explicit.

Why the board's silence on the weight matters

The board's failure to state the pound's weight means that a seller cannot know from the board's page alone how many grams are in a pound. The implied weight on this site is a workaround, but it is not a board statement. A seller who wants certainty should ask the licensed buyer for the weight in grams that the buyer will use.

That request is not unreasonable. A buyer who is licensed by the board should be able to state the weight of a pound in grams, and should be willing to put it in writing. If the buyer will not, the seller should consider whether the transaction is transparent. The board's approved price is a minimum, but it is only useful if the weight is known.