Gold Bar Prices Today

Cast bars, minted bars and what the difference costs

A gold bar is worth its fine gold weight times the spot price, plus a premium that depends mostly on the bar’s size and on how it was made. Two bars of the same weight and purity can carry different premiums for no reason other than their finish and packaging.

Cast bars

A cast bar is made by pouring molten gold into a mold. The surface is slightly rippled, the edges are rounded and the stamp is pressed in after cooling. Cast bars are cheaper to produce, so they usually carry lower premiums, especially at 1 ounce and above. Large bars, including every London Good Delivery bar, are cast.

Minted bars

A minted bar is cut from a rolled strip of gold and struck between dies like a coin. It has sharp edges, a polished or frosted surface and often a design on the back. Most bars of 1 ounce and smaller are minted and sealed in a plastic assay card. The extra steps add cost, which shows up in the premium.

Assay cards and serial numbers

The assay card records the bar’s weight, fineness and serial number, and it is signed or sealed by the refiner. Keeping the card sealed makes resale easier, because a buyer can match the serial number and skip some testing. A cracked or opened card does not change the gold content, but some buyers pay less or insist on testing before they quote.

• Record each bar’s serial number and keep your purchase invoice with it.
• Store carded bars flat, away from heat that can warp the plastic.
• Don’t remove a bar from its card to weigh it. Weigh the whole card and compare with the refiner’s published card weight if you need a check.

Standard gold bar sizes and specifications

Bars come in a handful of sizes that trace back to different markets. The weight of fine gold is what sets the value; the table shows how those sizes compare in troy ounces.

How much is a gold bar worth by size?

Multiply the fine ounces in the table by the spot price. A 10-ounce bar holds ten times the gold of a 1-ounce bar; a kilo bar holds 32.15 times as much. Replace the ounce figure with the gold price per ounce today and you have each bar’s melt value.

Searches for a “1 pound gold bar” come up often, but the pound is not a standard bar size, and pound bars are rare products. The kilogram size, and the confusion around a “pound” of gold, is covered on the gold price per kilo page.

What the fineness stamp on a bar means

Bullion bars show fineness in parts per thousand rather than karats. 999.9 is four nines, the usual standard for modern bars; 999 is three nines; 995 is the minimum for London Good Delivery and COMEX bars. On a small 999.9 bar the stamped weight and the fine gold weight are effectively the same. Large 995 bars carry both a gross weight and a fine weight, and the fine weight is the one that sets the value.

The 10-tola bar

At 116.64 grams, the 10-tola bar is sized for South Asian and Gulf savers who think in tolas. In the United States it is uncommon, and fewer dealers quote it, which can widen the selling spread. Tola conversions are on the gold price per tola page.

Bars behind futures contracts

A standard COMEX gold contract is settled with one 100-ounce bar or three 1-kilogram bars, at a minimum fineness of 995. Contract details and trading hours are on the gold futures page.

Checking a gold bar before you pay or sell

Counterfeit bars exist, and the most dangerous ones use tungsten, a metal with almost the same density as gold: about 19.25 grams per cubic centimeter against gold’s 19.32. A weight check alone can’t catch a well-made fake. A combination of simple checks catches most of them.

1. Weigh the bar on a scale that reads to 0.01 gram and compare with the stated weight. A 1-ounce bar should read about 31.10 grams.
2. Measure length, width and thickness with calipers and compare with the refiner’s published dimensions.
3. Inspect the stamp: refiner name or logo, weight, fineness and serial number should be sharp and consistent with genuine examples.
4. Use an electronic verifier that tests conductivity through the bar. It can detect a core of a different metal.
5. For larger bars, ask a dealer or assayer about ultrasound testing, which looks inside the bar.

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is excellent for surface composition but reads only the outer layer, so a thick gold plating over tungsten can pass. That is why buyers of large bars use more than one method.

Red flags

• A price below spot from a private seller or an unfamiliar website.
• A refiner name you can’t find, or a logo with misspellings.
• A serial number that repeats on several bars, or no serial number on a bar that should have one.
• An assay card that has been resealed, or a bar that rattles loose inside its card.

Where you buy matters as much as the checks. The where to buy gold page compares dealer types and payment methods.

Selling a gold bar: what to expect

When you sell, the buyer starts from the spot bid and subtracts a margin. Bars from well-known refiners in their original packaging usually sell closest to spot. Bars from obscure makers, damaged bars and odd sizes may need testing first, and the offer reflects that.

• Bring identification. Many buyers are required to record sellers’ details, and state rules on secondhand precious-metal purchases vary.
• If you are paid more than $10,000 in cash, the business must report the transaction to the IRS on Form 8300.
• Gains on bullion bars are taxed as collectibles, at a maximum long-term federal rate of 28%.
• Get quotes from more than one buyer on the same day, since spot moves between calls.
• Keep the original invoice. It proves your cost basis, which you need to work out the taxable gain.

Bar or coin of the same weight?

A 1-ounce bar and a 1-ounce bullion coin hold identical gold. Bars usually cost less over spot because they are simpler to produce, while government coins carry legal-tender status, detailed designs and features that make fakes harder. Some buyers pay slightly more for coins when you sell, because they are recognized instantly. Neither form changes the tax treatment: both count as collectibles for federal tax.

Options for selling, from local dealers to refiners, are compared on the where to sell gold page.