text: Fineness of silver in Britain was traditionally expressed as the mass of silver expressed in troy ounces and pennyweights ( troy ounce) in one troy pound (12 troy ounces) of the resulting alloy. Britannia silver has a fineness of 11 ounces, 10 pennyweights, or about  silver, whereas sterling silver has a fineness of 11 ounces, 2 pennyweights, or exactly  silver.