Important Tips on Buying Gold Bars and Gold Bullion

Gold Bars has been the most popular investment option for families from the wealthy and reasonably rich to ordinary people looking to park some of their hard earned money after spending on essentials.

The idea of buying gold or gold bars is no doubt an attractive option which hedges against money ploughed in other volatile and risky ventures or investments. Primarily, gold bars are ingots that can be molted and made into jewelry of different weights, designs and sizes.

Gold is a very dense metal and a one cubic foot can be worth ten million US dollars. 

Gold bar is an investment option where smaller bars are costly because of low premium to bigger bars.

Gold bars come with markings of the manufacturer, weight, purity and those by small manufacturers come without a serial number. Each bar has its own distinctive feature but most minted bars worldwide carry a motif on the reverse.

Range of 'good delivery' by exchanges specifies purity between 99%- 99.9%. Bars manufactured for jewelers and fabricators seldom carry weights and purity markings. Gold can be bought in troy ounce, tola, gram and tael weights. Troy ounces should not be confused with food weight which is lighter.

One troy ounce is about 31.1034768 grams and prices should be calculated according to the price of gold, say in US$ per ounce and then converted to price of a gold gram. One kilogram is 1000grans which again is 32.15074656 troy ounces and the value of one kilogram of gold on Oct10, 2008 was US$27617.49.

Major Banks are known to maintain gold accounts and gold bars for customers who are interested in investment while speculators go through brokers and private banks. Gold bars can be cast or minted. Gold put in a furnace is melted, poured back into the mold or passed through a die for a thinner and flatter look.

Minted bars are cut in shapes and sizes from a cast bar, edges smoothed and marked, and blanked wherever wanted. Most widely traded at a low premium, the small gold kilobar of 1000grams popular among investors, come with a flat brick-like shape. The International Gold Bars exhibition lists only 53 manufacturers of the kilobar.

Tezabi rough cut bars with 99.9% purity are manufactured by Pakistani artisans not by any specified weight but from available old gold jewelry as they were done 2000 years ago with one listing in the exhibition list. Tael is Chinese boat, biscuit and doughnut shaped bars.

Popular traditional Thai baht bars are 150.4 grams of 96.5% purity. Indian Tola bars lack serial numbers and are extremely flat of around 116.64 grams. The exhibition lists a variety of chi bars from Vietnam. Swiss hologram bars are available worldwide. 

Accredited Swiss, German and Brazilian manufacturers after 1980 apply decorative designs on the reverse of minted bars.

Japan pioneered the multi-color rainbow bar with 75% purity and Yin-Yang bars with innovative shapes depicting Zen symbols. Vietnam has gold leaf bars which are sewn in clothes and shoes or rolled into narrow tubes weighing around 15grams.

Different Types of Gold Bars

People know that gold bars are available in the size of biscuits. However, what a majority of the people do not know is that there are different kinds of gold bars. This differentiation has been made based upon several factors and according to the materials used. Most of the customers buy gold bars as they need to secure their future, which is not possible by investing money in relevant channels because of the inconsistent stock market. In general, a majority of the financial experts feel that investing in gold will fetch golden results with the value increasing always.

In raw form, gold is not regarded for its shape but for its value and purity. The same is applied to it in its finished form. The only reason why they are favored is that they can be counted easily as a set of bars are maintained based on their weight and premium. Buy them from recognized dealers only with a consistent past and reputation. Moreover, dealing with them on a constant basis could pave for ethical business and you will be provided with exciting discounts and price cuts. It should be remembered that the price of gold depends upon the bullion market.

Different types can be commonly found in the market can be found under a single roof at regular exhibitions organized by the gold council or any relevant body. For example, one can pay a visit to the International Gold Bars Exhibition, which provides a unique platform for enthusiastic people who can know about the latest trends in the gold sector. As a matter of fact, people buy them that are made from pure gold extracted from refineries of South Africa and Australia and are very much in demand across the world.

"Tola" bars are a kind of gold bars that are mostly found in India. Actually, "Tola" is a unit with which gold is measured. People are crazy for these gold bars as they are shaped up well and crafted to excellence besides regarding purity in high esteem. Meanwhile, decorative bars are used extensively for displays during exhibitions. They highlight the importance of owning gold bars and increase the value of gold not only by revenue but also by looks. Meanwhile, the trend of holograms has been passed onto gold too. This is reflected through the availability of hologram bars.

There are even other kinds of gold bars that are available as per the current prices of the bullion market. Buying them is more worthy than owning jewelry. It is a thing of past that people used to consider investing money in real estate is the best form of making money and increasing its value. Several websites are enriched with good amount of information that deals with all the issues involving gold bars. These form to be great source of information for people who do not have a firsthand knowledge about the value of gold in the financial market.

Gold Bars Types, Weight and Purity

Interested to invest in gold? Why not invest your money in gold bars? They vary in types, weight and purity. Knowing these three basic things about this precious metal is rather important. The value of gold is increasing in the global market, as to speak. They are highly coveted for their consistency in purity and weight and its portability. There are so many different sizes and kinds of gold bars produced all over the world. Since manufacturers of these precious metals still follow basic gold standards, it is not difficult to evaluate the worth of them. If you are like the many who are keen to invest in these kind of precious bars, you need to understand first the different types, weight and purity of gold bars.

Types:

Today, there are more than thirty types of these precious bars manufactured around the world. When talking about value and high grade of these precious bars, one of the largest today is known as the Good Delivery gold bars. This type can be bought and sold from gold dealers in Europe, particularly London.

In India and other countries like Singapore, the most widely traded type of bar is called the "ten tola". Hardly ever, can one see a stamped bar with a serial number and weighing 3.75 oz (117g) a piece. Approximately, 2,000,000 of these ten tola or "TT" bars are casted each year.

Besides the Good Delivery and the Tentola gold bars, another popular type of bar is found in China. It is called the "five tael biscuit" bar (6 oz; 187g). In the main, this type is manufactured in Hong Kong.

In other parts of the world, the most desirable precious bar sold to private investors is known as the kilobar. It weighs around 1000g or 32.15 ounces. Each year, more than a million of these bars are manufactured in Switzerland.

Weight:

If interested in investing in these bars, one needs to understand that they are measured in ounces. The world's biggest precious bar measured precisely 250 kg or 551 lb. The famous corporation, which is the Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, manufactured it. The corporation is a subsidiary of the infamous Mitsubishi. When it was put on display July 11, 2005, it was worth of 400 million yen. At that time, 400 million yen is equals to $3,684,000 USD. Then again, not all can afford that kind of investment. Lucky today, one can now invest in these precious metals in reasonable amount. They are now on hand from $25 to $2.5 million, at professional bullion trade prices.

Purity

Evidently, manufacturers made it easier for investors to calculate the weight and purity of gold because these pieces of information are normally stamped on the gold bars together with the manufacturer's name.

Purity of gold is generally measured in karat, or carat. Pure gold is 24 carats. 18 carats is a combination of an alloy and gold. Simply putting three-quarters of gold and one-quarter other metals is 18 carats. 12 carats, on the other hand, is half gold and half another metal.

Gold bars are purchased in different quantities, amounts and sizes. The types given above are just some of the most common precious bars available in the global market. There are other types of precious bars like the Koban, Yin Yang, and Rainbow gold bars. Understand as well that the value of gold vary depending on the market and the weight of the gold bar being bought. Gold bars are valued by many because it symbolizes power and wealth. But the best thing about gold bars is that it can protect the wealth against inflation and other economic threats.