PRECIOUS METALS

ISO 4217is the international standard describing three-letter codes (also known as the currency code to define the names of currencies established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO 4217 code list is the established norm in banking and business all over the world for defining different currencies, and in many countries the codes for the more common currencies are so well known publicly, that exchange rates published in newspapers or posted in banks use only these to define the different currencies, instead of translated currency names or ambiguous currency symbols.

ISO 4217 includes codes not only for currencies, but also for precious metals (gold, silver, palladium and platinum; by definition expressed per one troy ounce, as compared to “1 USD”) and certain other entities used in international finance, e.g. Special Drawing Rights. There are also special codes allocated for testing purposes (XTS), and to indicate no currency transactions (XXX). These codes all begin with the letter “X”. The precious metals use “X” plus the metal’s chemical symbol; silver, for example, is XAG. ISO 3166 never assigns country codes beginning with “X” while these codes are assigned for privately customized use only (reserved, never for official codes), so ISO 4217 can use “X” codes for non-country-specific currencies without risk of clashing with future country codes.

FREQUENTLY USED PRECIOUS METALS ISO 4127 CODES ARE AS FOLLOWS: