Pre-order Gold Bars

Gold Bar Refiners And Why They Matter

Ask an experienced investor what they look for in a gold bar and the answer is rarely about the gold itself. At 24 carat, the metal is the metal. What separates one bar from another is who made it and whether the rest of the world will take that maker’s word for it.

This is the function of the London Bullion Market Association’s approved refiner list. A bar bearing the mark of a listed refiner is accepted for trading on the international bullion market without being reassayed, because the refiner’s reputation has already answered the question of purity. In practice this means liquidity: a recognised bar can be sold in London, Zurich, Dubai or Singapore with minimal friction. An unmarked or unfamiliar bar invites testing, delay and a discount. Every bar in this range comes from an LBMA-approved refiner.

PAMP is among the most recognised names in precious metals refining anywhere in the world. Its Fortuna series bearing the Roman goddess of fortune is one of the most widely traded bar designs in existence, and the PAMP Fortuna 100g bar is a natural choice for investors who want a product any dealer will recognise on sight. PAMP Suisse bars are also available here.

Valcambi, one of Switzerland’s largest refiners, produces both cast and minted bars across an unusually broad weight range, from a few grams up to the 1kg Valcambi bar. Heraeus, with roots stretching back to the nineteenth century, refines gold held by central banks, institutions and private investors internationally, and features here in weights up to a kilo.

Selecting from this range means you specify the refiner. The gold bars we hold in stock are supplied from various LBMA-approved refiners, which keeps premiums as low as we can make them the right answer for most buyers, most of the time. But if you want a matched set from a single refiner, or a particular brand you know will be recognised instantly when you sell, ordering from this category gives you that control.

Cast And Minted Gold Bars

Gold bars reach the market by two quite different routes, and where we stock both finishes in the same weight, both appear in the listings above.

Cast bars are made the older way: molten gold poured into a mould and left to cool. The result has character slightly rounded edges, an occasional surface irregularity, the look of something poured rather than manufactured. Production is simpler, so cast bars typically carry a marginally lower premium. Investors buying at heavier weights often prefer them for precisely that reason: at 500g or a kilo, a small saving on premium is real money.

Minted bars are cut from rolled gold sheet and struck under pressure, giving crisp edges and a polished, exactly dimensioned face. They generally arrive sealed in tamper-evident packaging with an assay certificate, and command a modest premium over a cast bar of equal weight.

It is worth being clear that this is not a quality distinction. A 250g cast bar and a 250g minted bar contain the same gold at the same purity, and both sell as readily. The choice is one of finish, packaging and premium. If your priority is maximum metal for your outlay, cast bars have the edge. If you value sealed presentation or you are buying as a gift, or intend to hold the bar untouched for many years the minted premium buys you something worth having.

Gold Bars For Sale

This range spans 5g, 10g, 20g, 1oz, 50g, 100g, 250g, 500g and 1kg, which covers everything from a first purchase to a substantial portfolio allocation. The trade-off across that range is consistent: smaller bars cost more per gram but let you sell in small increments, while larger bars deliver the lowest cost per gram at the price of flexibility. A 1oz or 100g bar tends to strike the most useful balance, which is why both are perennially popular. Our full gold bar range sets out the options side by side.

Prices move with the market, reflecting the live gold price plus our premium. Since gold trades continuously through the day, check our live gold bar prices before committing. Every product here also carries tiered volume pricing, with the unit price stepping down as quantity rises — on several bars those tiers run to orders of 250 units and beyond. If you are buying at that scale, call us on 020 7283 7752 and we will quote directly and discuss settlement.

On tax, two points are worth separating. Investment gold meeting HMRC’s criteria — a fineness of at least 995 parts per thousand, in a weight accepted by the bullion markets — is exempt from VAT in the UK, and every bar in this range qualifies. Capital Gains Tax is a different matter: gold bars are subject to CGT on any profit above your annual exempt amount when you sell. Certain UK legal tender coins are not. If tax efficiency is central to your thinking, it is worth looking at Gold Britannias and Gold Sovereigns, which are exempt from Capital Gains Tax however large the gain, or reading our guide to CGT-free gold investments. Many of our clients hold both: bars for cost efficiency, gold coins for tax treatment and divisibility. Tax treatment depends on your circumstances, so do take your own advice.

Items in this category are shown as available on back-order rather than held in the vault. Order online as you would anything else, or call to place it by phone — and if timing matters, contact us before ordering and we will tell you exactly where that product stands. The same applies to our gold coins available to pre-order, so if you are ordering bars and coins together our team can co-ordinate both on a single order. You are welcome to collect from our office at Token House, Tokenhouse Yard, by appointment, and secure vault storage is available to every customer. For 500g and 1kg bars in particular it is worth considering, since home insurance rarely covers holdings of that value without specific arrangement.