Pennyweight (dwt) to Grams Converter — US Jeweller Gold Calculator
A pennyweight (dwt, from "denarius weight") is the US/UK jeweller weight unit: 1 dwt = 1.55517 g = 1/20 troy ounce = 24 grains. It is the standard scale-up unit at US gold-buying counters, pawn shops, scrap dealers, and dental gold refiners — quoted prices like "$60/dwt for 14K" translate directly to a per-gram pure-gold price.
This converter takes a pennyweight input and returns gram, troy ounce, tola, masha, ratti and grain equivalents, plus the money value at the live international XAU/USD spot rate. It is the calculation US scrap-gold sellers run before walking into a buyer's shop.
How the conversion works
Grams = pennyweight × 1.55517. Troy ounces = pennyweight ÷ 20. Money value = pure-gold grams × (live XAU/USD ÷ 31.1035) × FX rate. For 50 dwt of 14K scrap: gross = 77.76 g; pure (14/24) = 45.36 g; at $4,541/oz that is ~$6,623.
Sample conversions
| Input | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 dwt | 1.5552 g = 0.05 troy oz = 24 grains |
| 20 dwt | 31.1035 g = 1 troy oz |
| 50 dwt | 77.76 g = 2.5 troy oz |
| 100 dwt | 155.517 g = 5 troy oz |
| 1 dwt | 0.1333 tola (1/7.5 tola) |
When to use this calculator
- US scrap-gold selling — get the per-dwt buyer quote, multiply by your weight, check against the calculator output.
- Dental gold refining — old crowns and bridges weighed in dwt; karat varies 14K-18K typically.
- US estate jewellery — antique pieces often weighed and recorded in dwt on insurance schedules.
- Jeweller bench work — most US bench scales display dwt by default; international stones often weighed in dwt.
Frequently asked questions
Why do US pawn shops use pennyweight instead of grams?
Pennyweight is the historical US/UK jewelry-trade unit (predates metric adoption in commerce). Most US bench scales still default to dwt, and per-dwt pricing remains the industry standard at pawn shops, dental refiners and bullion-buyer counters. International refiners typically pay per gram but the intake price quote is often per dwt.
How many pennyweight in a troy ounce?
20 dwt = 1 troy ounce (exactly). So at a $4,541/oz spot price, 1 dwt of pure gold = $227.05. Scrap dealers quote ~70-85% of this spot to cover refining and margin.