Gold Bars Prices
If you are looking to invest in gold bullion or add to existing holdings, gold bars may be one of the most cost-efficient ways to gain more total ounces of gold for your investment dollars. Gold bars come in many different shapes, sizes and weights, and are produced by many of the world’s top mints and refiners.
Because gold bars can be produced in large quantities and carry no face value, gold bars may carry smaller premiums when compared to gold coins. Gold bars may be the best choice if you are only concerned with getting as many total ounces of gold as possible.
Gold Bar Weights and Purity
First, let’s discuss the most common weights for buying gold bars. We’ll also touch on the purity of gold bars so that you understand exactly how much gold you’re getting when you buy.
The most popular weight when buying gold bars are 1 oz. bars, 10 oz. bars, and 1 kilo bars. However, gold bars are commonly available for purchase in quantities as small as ½ gram, and there are many different options for metric weights up to the kilo. There are even 40 oz. bars - aka Good Delivery bars - but these are those huge bars that investment banks and other financial institutions most often use, rather than individual investors.
It’s important to realize that buying gold bars in bulk is more cost-effective. So, if you are stuck between two different weights, it is more financially prudent to splurge for the larger one if you can, as your unit cost per ounce will be lower.
Any gold bar worth investing in is going to be at least 99.5% pure. When comparing gold bar prices, you want the purest you can find. Most top-selling bars are cast as .9999 fine, or 99.99% pure.
In precious metals, decimals matter, so if you happen to come across a purity rating of higher than 99.99% (99.999%, for instance), pay attention. The extra decimal is a significant amount of additional purity - though it’s unlikely you’ll find such a bar.
Compare Gold Bar Prices for:
- 1 oz Gold Bars: There are dozens of companies that produce gold bars. However, three companies stand out from the rest of the field. Your top choices for 1 oz. gold bars are Valcambi, PAMP Suisse, and American Reserve.
- 10 oz Gold Bars: Choices for 10 oz. gold bars are more limited. There are still some top companies, though, including Valcambi, Johnson Matthey (Asahi), and Perth Mint.
- 1 Kilo Gold Bars: Kilo bars are a bit more varied than 10 oz. bars, but Valcambi still sits atop this group. Other major brands for kilo bars include Scottsdale Mint and Argor Heraeus.
How to Buy Gold Bars
If you’re ready to buy gold bars online, you need to know how to get started. Of course, we’re happy to help you, but we recognize that JM Bullion is not the only online bullion dealer in town.
Wherever you decide to shop, you need to make sure that your choice of dealer satisfies the following categories and provides you with confidence for each. None of them is negotiable. All six need to be present for you to make a purchase.
- Dealer Reputation: Choose a dealer with ample experience and a sterling reputation within that scope of experience. New companies might have their hearts in the right place, but you should heavily favor online bullion dealers that have been around a while. You should also check the Better Business Bureau for complaints and scour online forums for opinions about a dealer’s worthiness.
- Quality Assurance: Hand-in-hand with a dealer’s reputation is its quality assurance. A good dealer takes the legwork out of authenticating your gold bar’s purity and handles the transaction smoothly. You should also insist that there be a capable and fast customer support function in case anything goes wrong or arrives in error.
- Competitive Pricing: Avoid buying from dealers that charge too much in premiums. Make sure you compare apples to apples when you look at bars with different dealers - don’t ignore brand or style differences. Understand the notions of spot price and premium over spot, and be aware that typical gold markups range between 1% and 10% over spot. Furthermore, there should be a continuity in the premiums, where cast gold bars are cheapest, followed by minted ingots, rounds, and, finally, coins.
- Convenience and Security: It should be both easy and private to buy gold bars from an online dealer. There should be multiple ways to reach out to support personnel, and any transaction you make should have a significant amount of encryption and security associated with it.
- Shipping - Security and Privacy: Finally, the dealer should have a secure and discreet shipping process available for buying gold bars. Its packages should not bear any types of markings that might identify its contents or the fact that they are valuable. The best gold bar dealers will always use major couriers like FedEx or UPS. Your package will be shipped with every amount of protection possible. Ideally, the dealer insures the package until it arrives at your front door - in a nondescript manner, of course.
- Large Selection: This attribute is important, but is likely the least of the six. If you can find the right bar for you, then it doesn’t matter how many options a dealer offers. However, as a general rule, more options is better, and the leaders of the industry are going to have a better selection than the less-established dealers.
Understanding the weights associated with gold bars can sometimes be confusing because the industry mixes two different types of measurements together. Furthermore, the ounces associated with precious metals are not the same ounces used in other areas of life.
Anything with the word “gram” - is the same universal amount found in other walks of life. However, the ounces are troy ounces, rather than standard (avoirdupois) ounces.
Troy ounces are roughly 10% heavier than standard ounces. A troy pound is actually lighter than a standard pound because it only requires 12 ounces to the standard pound’s 16. If you do happen to come across a 1 pound bar of gold, it is critical that you know which type of pound it is before you buy.
Benefits of Buying Gold Bars and Rounds for Investors
No other investment class provides a tangible store of wealth. You can never lose the entirety of its value because gold has been a valued material for thousands of years. Even if the spot price goes down, it’s never going to zero because you still have the stuff in your hand.
Gold is also perfect to guard against the downturns in the economy and inflation. Because fiat currency’s value is fickle and tends to decline as the economy slows - to say nothing of its devaluation from inflation - gold is a natural safe haven for investors looking to protect the value of their net worths.
Because gold varies inversely with the economy, it has a similar relationship with stocks and bonds. Stock prices tend to go the opposite direction as gold prices, so gold can be an excellent way to hedge against downturns in the stocks and bonds in your portfolio. Thus, you can use gold to reduce the risk of your portfolio.
Finally, gold bars are one of the few investments that you can actually carry in your pocket. However, we wouldn’t recommend doing so - especially with the gold price hovering in the thousands.
