1 oz silver bars from €57.27

The troy ounce

The wholesale silver market counts in troy ounces, one troy ounce of metal at least 999 parts per thousand pure. A troy ounce is 31.1034768 grams; both the LBMA and the US measurement institute NIST use that figure, and a kilo is 32.1507465 troy ounces. The ordinary ounce, the avoirdupois ounce, is 28.34952 grams, so the troy ounce is heavier.

Good Delivery

A bar for the London wholesale market is on a different scale: the Good Delivery bar weighs 1,000 troy ounces, about 32 kilos, with a 10% tolerance either way, and has a fineness of at least 999.0 parts per thousand. Kilobars, 100-ounce bars and smaller ones are not accepted there, though they may be in other markets or on exchanges. According to the LBMA, a 1-ounce bar can never be Good Delivery, in any of the four precious metals.

What makers offer

Heraeus makes the 1 oz silver bar minted, in 999.9. Valcambi makes a minted 1 oz silver bar in 999.0, measuring 27 by 47 by 2.7 mm.

In Germany

Among retail investors in Germany, bars of 1 oz, 100 g and 1 kg are the most popular, according to Metals Focus.

In the United States

In the United States, the standard minted silver bars were 1, 5, 10 and 100 oz and, on occasion, kilobars, according to Metals Focus.