Gold Bars Buying Guide 2026: Sizes, Premiums, Refiners and the Four Mistakes That Cost Money

Gold bars are the cheapest way to own gold by weight, and the format where a wrong decision costs the most. A kilo bar at today's price is a six-figure purchase in a single object. This guide is the practical version: what sizes exist, what each actually costs above spot, which refiners matter, and the four mistakes that cost buyers real money.

Gold bar sizes and what they cost above spot

Premium is mostly a per-piece cost — fabrication, packaging, handling — so it falls steadily as the bar gets heavier. A kilo bar carries the lowest premium of any common gold format.

At the gold price on our live feed as this was written, $4,349.70 per troy ounce, the metal content alone works out as:

Bar	Troy oz	Metal value	Typical premium	Who it suits
1 g	0.032	~$140	Very high (20%+)	Gifts; not investment
5 g	0.161	~$700	High	Small first purchase
10 g	0.322	~$1,400	Moderate–high	Divisible small holding
20 g	0.643	~$2,800	Moderate	—
1 oz	1.000	~$4,350	Low–moderate	The standard unit; easiest resale
50 g	1.608	~$7,000	Low–moderate	—
100 g	3.215	~$14,000	Low	Best balance of premium and divisibility
250 g	8.038	~$35,000	Low	—
500 g	16.075	~$70,000	Very low	—
1 kg	32.151	~$140,000	Lowest	Core long-term holding

The honest guidance: below 1 oz you are paying for convenience, not gold. A 1 g bar can carry a premium of a fifth or more of its value, which the metal has to climb before you break even. From 100 g upward the premium becomes a rounding error on a long hold.

Cast versus minted

Cast bars are poured into a mould and cost less. Minted bars are stamped from rolled sheet, look sharper, ship in sealed assay cards, and cost more per ounce.

• Cast — slightly irregular, individual, usually loose with a paper certificate. The lowest-premium way to hold a given weight.
• Minted — uniform, bevelled, mirror or matte finish, sealed in a tamper-evident card with the serial number printed on both bar and card. Easier to verify at a glance, easier to sell privately, costs a little more.

If you are buying to hold, buy cast. If you expect to sell to a private buyer rather than a dealer, or you want the bar to be a gift, the assay card earns its premium. Above 100 g most bars are cast anyway.

The refiners that matter

The credential is the LBMA Good Delivery List. A bar from an accredited refiner trades anywhere in the world without re-assay. Brand preference beyond that is mostly cosmetic.

• PAMP — the most recognised retail name, Lady Fortuna design, Veriscan authentication. Small brand premium, recovered on resale.
• Valcambi — among the largest refiners in the world by capacity. Cast kilo bars are a default choice for low premium.
• Argor-Heraeus — strong European presence, Kinebar holographic security on minted product.
• Metalor — long-established, strong in the professional market, occasionally a touch cheaper than PAMP for identical metal.
• Heraeus and Umicore — industrial groups with plain, well-made, sensibly priced bars.
• C. Hafner — smaller German refiner known for recycled feedstock.
• Royal Canadian Mint and Perth Mint — sovereign mints that also produce bars.

All of the above are Good Delivery accredited. For the longer comparison see gold bar refiners compared.

Four mistakes that cost real money

1. Buying small bars for “flexibility”

Ten 10 g bars cost meaningfully more than one 100 g bar for the same gold, and you rarely end up selling in 10 g increments. If you want divisibility, 1 oz sovereign coins give you it at a lower premium than small bars and with better resale liquidity.

2. Opening the assay card

A sealed card links the serial on the bar to the certified weight and fineness. Open it and most dealers will want to re-verify the bar on resale, which costs you time and money. Buy sealed, keep sealed.

3. Paying for a brand you cannot resell

An unaccredited refiner's bar may be perfectly good gold. You will still pay for testing on the way out, and some dealers will decline it. Accreditation is worth more than a logo.

4. Buying “below spot”

No dealer sells accredited bars below the metal price and stays in business. A price below spot is a counterfeit, a scam, or a mistake that will be corrected before shipping. We cover the pattern in gold scams and counterfeits.

What to check before you accept a bar

1. Refiner on the LBMA Good Delivery List
2. Serial number on the bar matches the certificate
3. Fineness 999.9 (standard for modern investment bars)
4. Weight as stated — a kilo is 1,000 g, 32.1507 oz; “32 oz” is a different, lighter product
5. Assay card intact, if minted
6. Condition described honestly — secondary-market bars trade at a small discount, and that should be stated

If the parcel looks tampered with on arrival, photograph it before opening. Our guide to what to do if a delivery goes wrong covers the rest.

Bars versus coins — the one-paragraph version

Bars win on premium per ounce. Coins win on divisibility, recognition and private resale. A kilo bar is one indivisible six-figure decision; thirty-two Britannias cost more and give you thirty-two exit points. Most experienced holders use bars for the core they will not touch and coins for the portion they might. Full treatment in gold coins vs gold bars.

VAT

Investment gold — bars of at least 995 fineness in market-accepted weights — is exempt from VAT across the UK and EU. Silver and platinum are not. On a kilo of gold, that exemption is worth more than every premium difference above. Cross-border buyers should read customs and import duty on bullion.

Buying gold bars with crypto

We hold gold bars from 5 g to 5 kg — PAMP, Valcambi, Argor-Heraeus, Metalor, Heraeus, Umicore, C. Hafner and the Royal Canadian Mint — priced from live spot at the moment you check out. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, USDT, USDC, Solana, Litecoin and around thirty more are accepted; volume pricing improves at five and ten units; everything ships insured in unmarked packaging.

• 1 oz Valcambi gold bar — the standard unit
• 100 g Heraeus gold bar — best premium-to-divisibility balance
• 500 g Metalor cast bar
• 1 kg Argor-Heraeus gold bar — lowest premium per ounce
• All gold bars →

General information, not investment advice. Premiums move with the market and with dealer inventory.