Gold Bars
Gold Bars, how to buy
Gold bars are not nearly as popular as gold bullion coins. Yet, buying gold bullion bars gives investors gold bullion at gold bar prices, which are usually lower than the prices at which popular gold bullion coins sell.
Additionally, gold bars are exciting way to invest in gold. Hefting a 10-oz gold bar or a kilo gold bar almost provides an adrenalin rush. Lifting a 100-oz gold bar does cause an adrenalin rush. Invariably, someone holding a 100-oz gold bar for the first time asks, "How can something so small be so heavy?"
Gold Bars for sale
Although various sizes of gold bars for sale to investors have been produced since Americans regained the "right" to own gold bullion three decades ago, the most popular gold bars now for sale in the United States are the Credit Suisse 1-oz gold bar and the PAMP 1-oz gold bar. Both bars are .9999 fine.
Credit Suisse bars are by far the better known. Ironically, Credit Suisse bars are produced by PAMP. Credit Suisse is a Swiss bank, and PAMP is a major Swiss precious metals refinery. (A few years ago, Credit Suisse bought First Boston Bank to gain a major foothold in the U.S. banking market.)
The 10-oz Gold Bar
Ten-ounce gold bars are becoming more popular because they are for sale at smaller premiums than 1-oz bars, are easier to handle, and take less room to store and secure. Credit Suisse and PAMP make ten-ounce .9999 fine gold bars. Ten-ounce gold bars are often bought by investors buying several hundred ounces. Investors buying less than one hundred ounces may want to buy 1-oz gold bars or 1-oz bullion coins, both of which will offer greater flexibility when it comes time to liquidate and raise a little cash.
Other Gold Bars
Another gold bar gaining acceptance is the kilo gold bar (32.15 ounces), which is a favorite form of owning gold in Asia, and especially in Japan. The kilo gold bar is not as popular in the United States, possibly because many Americans are not comfortable with the metric system, but the bar's low premium makes it popular with large investors.
One hundred-ounce gold bars are not marketed in the United States but occasionally show up for sale in the secondary markets.
Many of the larger gold bars, such as the 100-oz bars, date back to the 1970s and 1980s when gold bullion was a favorite hedge against inflation and dollar debasement.
Often secondary market bars, one-ounce, ten-ounce, kilo, and 100-oz bars, are .9995 or even .999 pure, in which case they are for sale at lower premiums than the new 1-oz, 10-oz, and kilo gold bars, which are .9999 fine. The older, large gold bars are usually snapped up by jewelry manufacturers.
When gold bars from the 1970s are for sale in the secondary market, they are priced lower than the new bars. This is because the older bars do not come with the nice packaging that the new bars have. Old gold bars often come without packaging, which means when you hold them you are touching the gold. Sometimes old gold bars come in inexpensive vinyl pouches, but being thirty years old the vinyl pouches are frequently brittle, cracked, and scratched.
Old gold bars are rarely PAMP, but often are Credit Suisse. Engelhard and Johnson Matthey gold bars of various sizes are common in the secondary market.
Are Gold Bullion Bars Good Buys?
There is really only one reason to buy gold bullion bars instead of the popular gold bullion coins (Gold Eagles and Krugerrands being the most popular): gold bullion bars sell at smaller markups over spot than do the popular gold bullion coins. However, at times Krugerrands sell at lower premiums than new 1-oz gold bullion bars.
Investors who simply want to buy gold with the smallest markup over spot should consider buying Krugerrands, Austrian 100 Coronas, or Mexican 50 Pesos, which were the primary gold bullion coins of the 1970s, before Gold Maple Leafs (1979) and Gold Eagles (1986) were introduced.
Today Krugerrands, Austrian 100 Coronas, and Mexican 50 Pesos are no longer promoted in the U.S. Because they are no longer promoted, they carry smaller premiums over spot than new 1-oz Credit Suisse and PAMP gold bars.
For more information about how to buy gold bars from CMI Gold & Silver, see our page titled Doing Business with CMIGS. If you are interested in selling gold that you bought from another dealer, you will want to visit this page about selling gold and silver to CMIGS.
If you would like to discuss buying gold bullion bars or other low premium gold coins, call us at 1-800-528-1380. We take calls between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. MST, Mondays through Fridays.
