Does an arrow touching the 10 line count as a 10?

Yes. Under World Archery, NFAA and Vegas Shoot rules an arrow that touches the dividing line scores the higher ring. Federations word the rule slightly differently, so check the rulebook for your round before a close call comes up.

Is the ten-ring the same for compound and recurve archers?

Not always. On World Archery indoor faces compound archers score only the inner ring as 10, which is the X for recurve archers. At the Vegas Shoot both score the full gold ten. Rules differ between federations and between indoor and outdoor rounds, so check the rulebook for your round and division.

What is the difference between the ten-ring and the gold?

The gold is the yellow centre band of a World Archery face and it holds two rings: the 9 on the outside and the 10 inside. The X is a smaller ring inside the 10 that is counted separately to break ties.

Ten-Ring

The ten-ring is the innermost scoring ring of a standard target face, the centre of the gold, and an arrow inside it scores 10 points. On World Archery faces its diameter is one tenth of the face's. The X-ring sits inside it, and in some divisions only that smaller inner ring counts as the ten.

Details

A World Archery ten-zone face runs from 1 at the outer edge to 10 at the centre in five colours: white, black, blue, red and gold, two rings to each colour. The 10 is the inner half of the gold, and "hitting the gold" covers the 9 and the 10 together. On the 122 cm outdoor face the ten-ring is 12.2 cm across; on the 40 cm indoor face it is 4 cm.

An arrow that touches the line between two rings scores the higher value, so an arrow resting against the edge of the ten with its shaft cutting the line is a 10. Scorers settle close calls before anyone touches the arrows. Federations word the line rule slightly differently, and some use a magnifier or gauge for disputes, so check the rulebook for your round.

Not every archer on the line scores the same ten. Under World Archery indoor rules, compound archers score only the inner ring as 10 on 40 cm faces, the ring a recurve archer counts as the X, and the rest of the recurve ten scores 9. At the Vegas Shoot every division scores the full gold ten on the three-spot, and the X is kept for tie-breaks and shoot-offs. NFAA faces use a different scale altogether: the white centre scores 5, not 10.

For practice, the ten-ring is a more honest target than a score total. Counting how many arrows land in the 10, as tens per end or a percentage across the round, shows whether your groups are shrinking even when one wide arrow drags the total down. Once most arrows land in the ten, the X-count takes over as the finer measure.

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Common questions

Does an arrow touching the 10 line count as a 10?: Yes. Under World Archery, NFAA and Vegas Shoot rules an arrow that touches the dividing line scores the higher ring. Federations word the rule slightly differently, so check the rulebook for your round before a close call comes up.
Is the ten-ring the same for compound and recurve archers?: Not always. On World Archery indoor faces compound archers score only the inner ring as 10, which is the X for recurve archers. At the Vegas Shoot both score the full gold ten. Rules differ between federations and between indoor and outdoor rounds, so check the rulebook for your round and division.
What is the difference between the ten-ring and the gold?: The gold is the yellow centre band of a World Archery face and it holds two rings: the 9 on the outside and the 10 inside. The X is a smaller ring inside the 10 that is counted separately to break ties.