A gold bar, also known as gold bullion or a gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

that can be shaped in various forms, produced under standardized conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record-keeping. Larger varieties of gold bars, produced by

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

molten metal into molds, are called

ingots An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedure of sh ...

. Smaller bars are often created through minting or stamping from rolled gold sheets.

Central banks A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the monet ...

typically hold the standard

Good Delivery The Good Delivery specification is a set of rules issued by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) describing the physical characteristics of gold and silver bars used in settlement in the wholesale London bullion market. It also puts for ...

gold bar in their

gold reserves A gold reserve is the gold held by a national central bank, intended mainly as a guarantee to redeem promises to pay depositors, note holders (e.g. paper money), or trading peers, during the eras of the gold standard, and also as a store of v ...

and it is widely traded among bullion dealers. Additionally, the kilobar, weighing , and the gold bar are popular for trading and investment due to their more manageable size and weight. These bars carry a minimal premium over the

spot price In finance, a spot contract, spot transaction, or simply spot, is a contract of buying or selling a commodity, security or currency for immediate settlement (payment and delivery) on the spot date, which is normally two business days after t ...

of gold, facilitating small transfers between banks and traders. While most kilobars have a flat appearance, a preference for brick-shaped bars exists among some investors, particularly in Europe.

Types

Gold bars are classified based on their production process into

cast Cast may refer to: Music * Cast (band), an English alternative rock band * Cast (Mexican band), a progressive Mexican rock band * The Cast, a Scottish musical duo: Mairi Campbell and Dave Francis * ''Cast'', a 2012 album by Trespassers William ...

or minted forms, each differing in their appearance and market value. Cast bars, similar to

ingot An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is Casting, cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedu ...

s, are formed by pouring molten gold into a mold shaped like a bar, then allowing it to cool and solidify. This method often results in bars with irregular shapes and uneven surfaces, granting each bar a unique identity and making them easily recognizable. Due to their relatively simple production process and minimal handling, cast bars are generally less expensive than their minted counterparts. Minted bars are made from gold blanks, which are precisely cut from a flat gold sheet to achieve the desired dimensions. These bars are characterized by their smooth and uniform surfaces, reflecting a more refined and labor-intensive manufacturing process.

Security features

Manufacturers have developed measures to ensure the authenticity of gold bars and to protect them against

counterfeiting A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

or theft. The most prevalent method involves marking bars with unique registered

serial numbers A serial number (SN) is a unique identifier used to ''uniquely'' identify an item, and is usually assigned incrementally or sequentially. Despite being called serial "numbers", they do not need to be strictly numerical and may contain letter ...

or issuing a

certificate of authenticity A certificate of authenticity (COA) is a seal or small sticker on a proprietary computer program, t-shirt, jersey, or any other memorabilia or art work, especially in the world of computers and sports. It is commonly a seal on paper authenticati ...

. Some refineries emboss even the smallest bars with serial numbers, which should correspond with the numbers on their associated certificates. In contrast to cast bars, which may be handled directly, minted bars are typically enclosed in protective packaging or equipped with

tamper-evident technology Tamper-evident describes a device or process that makes unauthorized access to the protected object easily detected. Seals, markings, or other techniques may be tamper indicating. Tampering Tampering involves the deliberate altering or adulterat ...

to deter tampering and prevent damage. Additionally, a security feature known as a Kinegram, a type of hologram, can be embossed directly onto a gold bar. Bars containing this feature are referred to as

Kinebar A kinebar is a gold bar that has a diffractive optically variable image device (similar to a security hologram) embossed into the surface of the gold. The device used is a "Kinegram" made by OVD Kinegram AG (Switzerland). Bar The Kinegram tech ...

s. File:Kinebar3.jpg, 1 oz diffractive

kinebar A kinebar is a gold bar that has a diffractive optically variable image device (similar to a security hologram) embossed into the surface of the gold. The device used is a "Kinegram" made by OVD Kinegram AG (Switzerland). Bar The Kinegram tech ...

File:Gold Ingot 100g Perth Mint.JPG, Bar in protective casing

Standard bar weight units

Gold is measured in

troy ounce Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in the Kingdom of England in the 15th century and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 p ...

s, often simply referred to as ounces when the reference to gold is evident. . The troy ounce is heavier than the

avoirdupois ounce The ounce () is any of several different units of mass, weight, or volume and is derived almost unchanged from the , an Ancient Roman unit of measurement. The avoirdupois ounce (exactly ) is avoirdupois pound; this is the United States cu ...

, a commonly used unit for measuring weight in the

United States customary system United States customary units form a system of measurement units commonly used in the United States and most U.S. territories since being standardized and adopted in 1832. The United States customary system developed from English units that ...

. The standard gold bar held and traded internationally by central banks and

bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from ...

dealers is the ''

'' bar with a nominal weight. However, its precise gold content is permitted to vary between and . The minimum purity required is 995 ‰ gold. These bars must be stored in recognized and secure gold

vaults to maintain their quality status of Good Delivery. The recorded

provenance Provenance () is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, p ...

of this bar assures integrity and maximum resale value. * One tonne = 1,000 kilograms = 32,150.746 troy ounces. * One kilogram = 1,000 grams = 32.15074656 troy ounces. * One

tola Tola may refer to: Places * Bella Tola, a mountain in the Pennine Alps in the Swiss canton of Valais * La Tola, a town and municipality in the Nariño Department, Colombia * Tola (Shakargarh), a village in Pakistan * Tola, Rivas, a municipali ...

= 11.6638038 grams = 0.375 troy ounces. * One

tael Tael ( ),"Tael" entry
at the

metric system The metric system is a system of measurement that standardization, standardizes a set of base units and a nomenclature for describing relatively large and small quantities via decimal-based multiplicative unit prefixes. Though the rules gover ...

. In Taiwan and Hong Kong, a tael is equivalent to 37.429 g.

Manufacturers

Largest gold bar

The largest bar of gold weighed 300.12 kg (661 lb 10 oz) and was made by Emirates Minting Factory LLC (UAE), in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 10 November 2024.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gold Bar

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

Gold objects