Gold bars compared by series

Minted and cast

Precious metal in bulk is called bullion: it is cast or struck into bars, wafers or coins. A bar's purity is given in thousandths: a .995 bar holds 995 parts of precious metal and 5 parts of other metal.

Heraeus, Degussa and C. Hafner mint their small gold bars and cast the large ones. Heraeus mints from 1 to 100 grams and casts from 100 to 1,000 grams. Degussa mints from 0.5 to 50 grams and casts 250, 500 and 1,000 grams; 1 ounce and 100 grams come in both forms. C. Hafner mints from 1 to 100 grams and casts from 1 ounce to 1,000 grams.

Valcambi mints the large sizes too, from 1 gram to 1 kilo. Umicore makes investment bars from 1 to 5,000 grams.

Good Delivery

In the London wholesale market, the Good Delivery bar is what counts. The LBMA keeps the lists of refiners allowed to deliver gold and silver bars in that market, and only bars that meet its standards are accepted in the settlement of a Loco London contract. Such a gold bar weighs about 400 troy ounces. The requirements cover fine weight, purity and appearance. Other products of accredited refiners fall outside the lists.

For VAT on gold, silver, platinum and palladium, see VAT by EU country.