What gold bar to buy

[Jvw]

Hello, I am looking to buy my first gold bar. It seems all bars are equally expensive, any advice on which melter/make I should buy?

[mr-dead]

any reason why you want a bar over coins?

Either way I would stick to a well known and trusted dealer as a newbie.  Buying bars on ebay is just asking to get ripped off as there are a lot of fakes out there.

I would buy whatever is closest to spot as with bars very few have a premium over melt value.

 

A good starting point:

https://www.hattongardenmetals.com/buy/cid1/gold-bars

 

[KevinFlynn]

Which weight are you looking for? And are you stacking or collecting?

I ask because I personally feel that cast bars are much nicer than stamped bars. And there are some amazing small cast bars out there.

Also, where are you from? It would be prudent to buy a brand that is well known around where you live (or more precise, where you will be aiming to sell one day).

[Jvw]

Good questions, I collect coins and would like to expand a little to bars. I was thinking of buying a 1 OZ bar to start. And def not on eBay but through dealers. No cast bars in that weight range I guess. The whole "spot price" and "gold price" is still a bit of a mystery to me. Is spot also the trade price? And does that work the same for Silver? 

So sorry for my newb questions.... 

[KevinFlynn]

No problem.

Spot price is the current gold or silver price that is traded internationally, like a currency exchange rate or the worth of a barrel of oil or the stock of a company.

The price you pay at a dealer is based on the spot price, but you usually pay a bit more, the difference of which is called the premium. Say you are buying a one ounce silver coin while the silver spot is at $15.00, your dealer will most likely sell for something like $18.00 or $19.00. Different products will have different premiums, with more elaborate, artistic or rare items being more expensive. Also you may have to pay a sales tax on top, depending on where you live.

So, most usually the cost of a precious metals item will fluctuate with the spot price of the precious metal in question. Most online shops actualize their prices every five to 15 minutes, for example.

On bars. usually cast bars begin at higher quantities than one once. I know of a couple of exampes of cast one ouncers:

Perth Mint

Australian Bullion Company

Just out of my head, but these are hard to come by in europe (are you in europe?) and likely to carry a higher premium due to that. Others may know of more readily available products.

When you say you collect coins, do you stack coins for precious metals content? Or do you collect numismatic coins? Or somewhere inbetween?

[Zhorro]

I am thinking about buying one of the 2018 Australia 1oz gold rectangular dragon coins which is in the shape of a small bar:

https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/world-coins/australian-coins/1oz-dragon-rectangular-coin/

[Alymac]

5 minutes ago, Zhorro said:

I am thinking about buying one of the 2018 Australia 1oz gold rectangular dragon coins which is in the shape of a small bar:

https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/world-coins/australian-coins/1oz-dragon-rectangular-coin/

Do the gold bars come sealed or like the silver ones just well open.

[Abyss]

8 minutes ago, Zhorro said:

I am thinking about buying one of the 2018 Australia 1oz gold rectangular dragon coins which is in the shape of a small bar:

https://www.bullionbypost.co.uk/world-coins/australian-coins/1oz-dragon-rectangular-coin/

European Mint (https://www.europeanmint.com/) £20 pounds cheaper BUT not worth it only buying the one item (postage costs and convert GBP/EUR transferwise).

[richatthecroft]

@Jvw wouldn’t this bar fit the bill? Great looking bar, trusted Forum member, great price and a tiny mintage: 

 

[Jvw]

33 minutes ago, KevinFlynn said:

No problem.

Spot price is the current gold or silver price that is traded internationally, like a currency exchange rate or the worth of a barrel of oil or the stock of a company.

The price you pay at a dealer is based on the spot price, but you usually pay a bit more, the difference of which is called the premium. Say you are buying a one ounce silver coin while the silver spot is at $15.00, your dealer will most likely sell for something like $18.00 or $19.00. Different products will have different premiums, with more elaborate, artistic or rare items being more expensive. Also you may have to pay a sales tax on top, depending on where you live.

So, most usually the cost of a precious metals item will fluctuate with the spot price of the precious metal in question. Most online shops actualize their prices every five to 15 minutes, for example.

On bars. usually cast bars begin at higher quantities than one once. I know of a couple of exampes of cast one ouncers:

Perth Mint

Australian Bullion Company

Just out of my head, but these are hard to come by in europe (are you in europe?) and likely to carry a higher premium due to that. Others may know of more readily available products.

When you say you collect coins, do you stack coins for precious metals content? Or do you collect numismatic coins? Or somewhere inbetween?

Excellent, thank you for the explanation very helpful indeed. (I don't know why I can not "plus" your reply because you deserve one)..... 

Those casted bars look lovely but will cost a pretty penny to ship to The Netherlands. And I collect both collectable coins and also some silver for stacking. I'm still trying to figure out what I like best. 

I bought a 1 oz Maple Leaf 40 anniversary coin and would like to add a nice 1 oz bar also. I usually buy with Heubach and they have a variety of bars. Same price just different brand. All are sealed and I think most have a serial no. also. Fairly safe to buy I guess. Would you guys go for a PAMP or a an Umicore for example?

[Jvw]

29 minutes ago, richatthecroft said:

@Jvw wouldn’t this bar fit the bill? Great looking bar, trusted Forum member, great price and a tiny mintage: 

 

Thank you for the link and it looks nice! But it is posted mainland UK only and i am in The Netherlands. 

[Au79]

https://www.geiger-edelmetalle.de/en/online-shop/all-products/gold/gold-bars/gold-bar-schloss-gueldengossa-1-oz.9999-square-cast-1651.html

[TheProspector]

I am in a similar situation and was looking at these Sharps Pixley bars.

https://www.sharpspixley.com/1oz-gold-bar-sharps-pixley

[Jvw]

Oh I like those cast bars! I'll make sure to pick some of them up. Cheers for the suggestions and links. 

Just one quick question; I've also found some nice Perth Mint bars (Sealed and from trader). But googling kinda put me off a bit because of all the FAKE warnings. Even the sealed bars were forged so it seems. How can I make sure to pick up a real one? And perhaps just as important, how can I proof I have a real one when the time comes to sell the bar on again? Are the bars also registered?

[Nick1368]

I bought a 1 oz Gold bar from sharps Pixley, they have their own bars called Dagusa Bars, very good price too, at the time I bought it, it was cheaper than their cheapest 1 oz gold coin, so the premium was quite low, %3 over spot price at the time.

[KitboyE17]

6 minutes ago, Nick1368 said:

I bought a 1 oz Gold bar from sharps Pixley, they have their own bars called Dagusa Bars, very good price too, at the time I bought it, it was cheaper than their cheapest 1 oz gold coin.

This is because the German company Degussa bought Sharps Pixley a few years ago. The SP bars are very nice and have a clean symmetry about them uncluttered and pleasing to the eye. I particularly like their 1/4 oz bars. 

[ChrisSilver]

Topic moved to gold section