💡 Did You Know?
The 4.25 gram figure predates the coin. It came from the mithqal, a weight already used by merchants in Arabia before any Islamic dinar was struck.
📊 DATA & STATS
Quarter dinar 1.0625g. Half dinar 2.125g. One dinar 4.25g. Five dinar 21.25g. Ten dinar 42.5g. Every size is a straight multiple of the same base weight.
One gold dinar is 4.25 grams. That is the short answer, and it has been the answer for more than 1,300 years. The longer answer explains why a number that specific has survived unchanged, and what it does not tell you about the coin in your hand.
Where 4.25 Grams Came From
The weight was not invented for the coin. It came from the mithqal, a unit already in commercial use across the Arabian peninsula before the first Islamic dinar was minted around 696 CE.
Adopting an existing merchant standard rather than imposing a new one is likely why it stuck. Traders did not have to relearn anything, and the weight carried straight into the new coinage.
The Fractional Sizes
Modern mints issue fractions and multiples of the base weight, all derived arithmetically:
- Quarter dinar — 1.0625 grams
- Half dinar — 2.125 grams
- One dinar — 4.25 grams
- Five dinar — 21.25 grams
- Ten dinar — 42.5 grams
Smaller coins cost more per gram, because minting cost is spread across less metal. That premium is the price of being able to sell in smaller pieces later.
Weight Is Not Purity
This trips people up constantly. The 4.25 gram standard tells you how much the coin weighs, not how much of it is gold.
Classical dinars were struck at 22 carat, or 916 fineness, meaning 4.25 grams of coin containing about 3.89 grams of pure gold. A 999 dinar of the same weight contains about 4.25 grams of gold. The AurumLX dinar is minted at 999. When comparing prices, compare gold content, not coin weight.
Converting to a Price
A troy ounce is 31.1035 grams, so one ounce is a little over 7.3 dinars. To price a dinar: take the gold price per ounce, convert to ringgit, divide by 31.1035, multiply by 4.25, then add the mint premium. Adjust for fineness first if the coin is not 999.
The full calculation is here if you want to check a dealer quote yourself.
Why the Standard Still Matters
A fixed weight makes coins comparable across mints and centuries. You can weigh a dinar and know immediately whether it conforms. That check is simple, physical, and does not require trusting the seller — which is the whole point.
