The Good Delivery specification is a set of rules issued by the

London Bullion Market Association The London Bullion Market Association (now known simply as LBMA), established in 1987, is the international trade association representing the global Over The Counter (OTC) bullion market, and defines itself as "the global authority on precious ...

(LBMA) describing the physical characteristics of

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 ...

and

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

bars used in settlement in the wholesale

London bullion market The London bullion market is a wholesale over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter market for the trading of gold, silver, platinum and palladium. Trading is conducted amongst members of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), tightly ov ...

. It also puts forth requirements for listing on the LBMA Good Delivery List of approved refineries. Good Delivery bars are notable for their large size and high purity.

''The Good Delivery Rules for Gold and Silver Bars''

The entire Good Delivery specification is contained in the LBMA document titled ''The Good Delivery Rules for Gold and Silver Bars: Specifications for Good Delivery Bars and Application Procedures for Listing''. The document includes specific requirements regarding the

fineness The fineness of a precious metal object (coin, bar, jewelry, etc.) represents the weight of ''fine metal'' therein, in proportion to the total weight which includes alloying base metals and any impurities. Alloy metals are added to increase hard ...

, weight, dimensions, appearance, marks, and production of gold and silver bars. It specifies procedures for weighing, packing, and delivery. It also describes policies for ensuring refiners' compliance with the specifications. The current edition of the ''Good Delivery Rules'' was published in January 2023.

Basic specifications

Gold bars

* Fineness: minimum of 995.0 parts per thousand fine gold * Marks:

serial number 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 letters ...

, refiner's

hallmark A hallmark is an official Mark (sign), mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''Wikti ...

, fineness, year of manufacture * Gold content: * Recommended dimensions ** Length (top): ** Width (top): ** Height:

Silver bars

* Fineness: minimum of 999.0 parts per thousand silver * Marks: serial number, refiner's hallmark, fineness, year of manufacture * Silver content: (Bars manufactured after January 1, 2008); (Bars manufactured prior to January 1, 2008); recommended * Recommended dimensions ** Length (top): ** Width (top): ** Height: Weight is not recommended to be stamped on bars of either gold or silver, because bars will be officially weighed on delivery, and this weight, which may be different from that originally marked, will prevail. A bar's weight may also change by handling or sampling, thus invalidating the original mark.

Non–Good Delivery

Bars that do not comply with Good Delivery rules are termed Non–Good Delivery. If they are similar to Good Delivery bars but do not fully meet the requirements, they must be stamped with "NGD" to distinguish them from conforming bars.

LBMA Good Delivery List

The LBMA maintains two Good Delivery Lists of approved refineries (one for gold and one for silver) that meet certain minimum criteria (age, net worth, and production volume) and have demonstrated their ability to produce Good Delivery bars. Listed companies agree to submit to monitoring by the LBMA. Those listed companies that refuse to participate in regular monitoring are removed from the Good Delivery List and added to the Former List.

Good Delivery Referees

Five companies are accredited by the LBMA as Good Delivery RefereesLondon Bullion Market Association
LBMA Referees
/ref> in order to supervise the Good Delivery System and monitor the companies with Good Delivery certification. The referees' main functions are: * Technical assessment of applicants for listing * Proactive monitoring of refiners on the Good Delivery List * Provision of technical advice on a range of topics The companies accredited as referees are: * Argor-Heraeus SA (Switzerland) * Metalor Technologies SA (Switzerland) * PAMP SA (Switzerland) *

Rand Refinery Rand Refinery (Pty) Limited is the world's largest integrated single-site precious metals refining and smelting complex. It was established in 1920 to refine gold within South Africa, which had previously been refined in London. History It was ...

(PTY) Ltd (South Africa) * Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo K.K. (Japan)

References

External links

LBMA – Good Delivery Explained

LBMA – Good Delivery Rules
{{DEFAULTSORT:Good Delivery Gold Silver Precious metals as investment International standards