How many pennyweights are in one carat?

One carat equals approximately 0.1286 pennyweights. Conversely, one pennyweight (1.5552 grams) equals about 7.776 carats.

What is a pennyweight and why is it called that?

The pennyweight was originally the weight of a silver penny in medieval England. It equals 1/20 of a troy ounce or 24 grains (about 1.555 grams). The abbreviation 'dwt' comes from 'denarius weight,' referencing the Roman coin the English penny was modeled after.

Is the pennyweight still commonly used?

Yes, actively in the North American precious metals trade. Jewelers, gold refiners, and scrap metal buyers routinely price gold and silver per pennyweight. It is less common outside North America, where grams are preferred.

Carats to Pennyweights (ct to dwt) Converter

1 ct = 0.1286 dwt

1 Carat equals 0.1286 Pennyweights (1 ct = 0.1286 dwt). Convert Carats to Pennyweights with formula, table, and examples.

One carat equals approximately 0.1286 pennyweights. The pennyweight (abbreviated dwt) is a troy weight unit equal to 1/20 of a troy ounce, or about 1.5552 grams. It remains actively used in the North American jewelry trade for pricing precious metals, making the carat-to-pennyweight conversion a daily calculation for jewelers who handle both gems and gold.

How to Convert Carats to Pennyweights

dwt = ct × 0.1286029863

Multiply the value in Carats by 0.1286029863

Take your value in Carats
Multiply by 0.1286029863
Read the result in Pennyweights

Common Carats to Pennyweights Conversions

Carats (ct)	Pennyweights (dwt)	Status
0.25 ct	0.032151 dwt
0.5 ct	0.064301 dwt
1 ct	0.128603 dwt
2 ct	0.257206 dwt
5 ct	0.643015 dwt
10 ct	1.28603 dwt
25 ct	3.215075 dwt
50 ct	6.430149 dwt
100 ct	12.860299 dwt
250 ct	32.150747 dwt
500 ct	64.301493 dwt
1,000 ct	128.602986 dwt
5,000 ct	643.014931 dwt

Good to Know About Carats to Pennyweights Conversion

The pennyweight is one of the few troy units that survived metrication in daily American commerce. While scientists and pharmacists switched to grams, American jewelers kept the pennyweight because their pricing models, scales, and trade customs were built around it. This persistence creates a distinctive American jewelry trade language where gemstones are priced per carat and metals per pennyweight - two different historical systems coexisting on the same workbench.

Carats to Pennyweights: What You Need to Know

American jewelers commonly buy and sell gold by the pennyweight. A gold engagement ring setting might weigh 2 to 4 pennyweights of 14-karat gold, while its center diamond weighs 1 carat (0.1286 dwt). Scrap gold dealers quote prices per pennyweight, requiring jewelers to separate gem weight in carats from metal weight in pennyweights when calculating the value of estate jewelry.

What is a Carat? ct

A carat is a unit of mass equal to exactly 200 milligrams (0.2 grams), used for measuring gemstones and pearls. Adopted internationally in 1907 by the Fourth General Conference on Weights and Measures.

Metric diamond weight gemstone grading pearl measurement

Learn more about Carat →

What is a Pennyweight? dwt

A pennyweight is a unit of mass equal to 24 grains or 1/20 of a troy ounce (1.55517384 grams). Used in the jewelry trade for weighing precious metals.

Troy jewelry manufacturing precious metal trade goldsmithing

Learn more about Pennyweight →

Going the other way? Use our Pennyweights to Carats converter.

Carats to Pennyweights FAQ

One carat equals approximately 0.1286 pennyweights. Conversely, one pennyweight (1.5552 grams) equals about 7.776 carats.
The pennyweight was originally the weight of a silver penny in medieval England. It equals 1/20 of a troy ounce or 24 grains (about 1.555 grams). The abbreviation 'dwt' comes from 'denarius weight,' referencing the Roman coin the English penny was modeled after.
Yes, actively in the North American precious metals trade. Jewelers, gold refiners, and scrap metal buyers routinely price gold and silver per pennyweight. It is less common outside North America, where grams are preferred.

Non-Frequently Asked Questions About Carats to Pennyweights

Questions nobody should ask - but someone did.

A pennyweight of gold (1.555 g) at mid-2020s prices costs roughly 90 to 120 dollars. A 1-carat diamond of decent quality costs 4,000 to 10,000 dollars. The person receiving the diamond wins by a factor of 40 to 100. The gold-for-diamonds trade has never been a fair one by weight.
The 'd' comes from 'denarius,' the Roman silver coin that the English penny was based on. This is the same reason the old British pre-decimal penny symbol was 'd' (as in '6d' for sixpence). The pennyweight is thus abbreviated 'dwt' for 'denarius weight' - a linguistic relic of the Roman Empire surviving in modern American jewelry shops.
A typical engagement ring setting uses about 3 pennyweights (4.7 grams) of gold. One carat of diamond weighs 0.1286 pennyweights. So the gold in the setting outweighs the diamond by roughly 23 to 1. The diamond is smaller, lighter, and worth several times more than the metal holding it.