1 gram gold bars - who buys them?

[NorthBen]

Hi all,

I’ve been looking at buying bits of gold as and when the budget allows, along side silver, mostly sovereign and half sovereign. Within my budget you often see gold bars from 1 > 2.5g gold bars pop up too. Just wondering what people’s opinion of the smaller bars are. They seem to be harder to sell on, but I know some folks that go mad over them.

Bit of a new guy question I suppose, but these smaller bars intrigue me!

[Goldmick]

I was like that I had a few but in the end I sold them. I much prefer a sovereign or even 1/10 coins. I would have a gold  bar but would only want 10g and upwards lol

Edited April 9, 2018 by Goldmick
Change

[Roy]

The 1g are really small!

Basically a high premium waste of time.

I have 5g Pamps and they are not so bad. Agree with Mick, go big.

[NorthBen]

Totally agree, I think I’d go for at least 10g. In recently got a 1/10 coin and I swear the envelope was empty until the coin dropped out!

[Silverhunter]

My first gold purchase was a sunshine 1g wouldn't go back for that size but the Umicore certicard 2.5gand 5g are not too bad if sticking to a budget almost identical dimensions on the 2.5 and 5 apart from thickness 

[lightjaw]

Buy what you want and budget allows. Even a 1g bar is something set aside for the future or for an emergency. Rather have a 1g gold bar than spend it on pork scratchings.

(though does depend on the make of pork scratchings obviously)

Edited April 9, 2018 by lightjaw

[PansPurse]

As everyone has highlighted, the premium for small bars is the kicker. If I only have twenty or forty quid I'm more inclined to pick up some silver, harder to lose and feels like you've actually got something for your money.

That said, the crazy price of gold has really stumped the bit of me that likes a nice lump of something. 1/4oz doesn't seem to cut it but saving for an ounce is going to take ages 

[Sal]

2 hours ago, NorthBen said:

Hi all,

I’ve been looking at buying bits of gold as and when the budget allows, along side silver, mostly sovereign and half sovereign. Within my budget you often see gold bars from 1 > 2.5g gold bars pop up too. Just wondering what people’s opinion of the smaller bars are. They seem to be harder to sell on, but I know some folks that go mad over them.

Bit of a new guy question I suppose, but these smaller bars intrigue me!

Calling them a "bar" is a stretch to say the least. Like has been said, premiums are the problem.  

 

 

[LittleJohnSilver]

1g jobbies are more like tic tacs

[Pampfan]

Go bigger - the smaller bars carry huge premiums -

I have a .3 gram pamp bar - cost is $40 dollars - the bar is so tiny - you need a 20x loupe to look at it. 

Buy sovereigns to start - you cant go wrong with them. 

[mongo28]

Go bigger - the smaller bars carry huge premiums -
I have a .3 gram pamp bar - cost is $40 dollars - the bar is so tiny - you need a 20x loupe to look at it. 
Buy sovereigns to start - you cant go wrong with them. 

Just picked up a King George BU Sovereign "random" for near spot! Can't go wrong for .2354oz of gold!

[FlorinCollector]

I am up to 7 gram bars now i just really like them and can buy them without having to save up. I think right now its metal content is £30 and off of sharps pixley i could buy one for £37. So spread of £7 you need to make back. Imo thats much easier than buying a silver coin. Some semi numis have that spread in them or more from the start and will be hard to claw back. I would say they are more of a long term play and in 20 years if i lose a few quid its still more than what id of had if I had of bought nothing pm related.

[ilovesilverireallydo]

I started out like you, small 0.5 gram to 2.5 bars, but quickly realised that the premiums just aren’t worth it, so started buying junk Silver like 50% and 925 Silver predecimal coins. Same budget but more satisfying and as the premiums were low, I knew I wouldn’t lose out if I had to sell in a pinch (unless spot went too low). Those small bars give no stacking satisfaction ?. I also went through a phase of buying 9ct and 14ct coins as you can get them near spot and sell them around same rates, but quickly got bored of them, however they are a still a valid way to stack cheap gold with little premium, you will stil get similar percentages back under spot if you sold them to Gold buyers such as HGM as you would with sovs and much more satisfying to hold than 1gm bars. 

I sold all my mini bars as a job lot on eBay when they had a £1 offer and luckily made my premiums back. Did the same with the 9/14ct coins.

Now I either buy low premium semi numismatics, cheap overspot Silver and a bunch of “junk” silver world and U.K. coins as well as some sovs and mini gold coins like the dos pesos when I can get them with low premiums. When funds allow I would buy some premium silver like Silver bullets, interesting bars etc. These isee as my “hobby” buys and most cases you can make your premiums back on eBay. 

When funds are low, stacking these junk coins is a good way to save up to buy bigger items, I will often flog the junk in largish lots or single coins after researching what they go for and then put the money towards sovs or Silver brits, as a long term saving strategy they have CGT advantage. 

@arshimo2012 usually has good deals on cheap Silver and even Gold and the group buys by @BackyardBullion are a good way to buy cheap Brits. Also a good way to buy stuff from both and other members sale ads to potentially flip for small profits to increase your core buying funds to offset the premiums especially once you get interested in stuff that is more expensive. 

[ilovesilverireallydo]

5 hours ago, JCRJM said:

I am up to 7 gram bars now i just really like them and can buy them without having to save up. I think right now its metal content is £30 and off of sharps pixley i could buy one for £37. So spread of £7 you need to make back. Imo thats much easier than buying a silver coin. Some semi numis have that spread in them or more from the start and will be hard to claw back. I would say they are more of a long term play and in 20 years if i lose a few quid its still more than what id of had if I had of bought nothing pm related.

7 gram or a gram? No way you getting 7 gram Gold bars for £37, and if you are, take all my money and get me some ?

[Cornishfarmer]

Before Brexit I used to get a few £10 off eBay vouchers so could pick them up for £20 odd.    Be careful because a lot of fakes on eBay esp pamp.    Also make sure you don’t bid on grains not grams because they are even smaller

[JunkBond]

10 hours ago, PansPurse said:

That said, the crazy price of gold has really stumped the bit of me that likes a nice lump of something. 1/4oz doesn't seem to cut it but saving for an ounce is going to take ages 

The poor old 1/2 oz gets a bit overlooked, have you considered a 1/2 krug, low premium and still a decent lump of a coin, blows a 1/4 out of the water.

Only take you half as long to save up for too.

[PansPurse]

8 minutes ago, JunkBond said:

The poor old 1/2 oz gets a bit overlooked, have you considered a 1/2 krug, low premium and still a decent lump of a coin, blows a 1/4 out of the water.

Only take you half as long to save up for too.

Speaking as a scientist I approve of this idea... A half it is (though I may go for a half Britannia)

[JunkBond]

6 minutes ago, PansPurse said:

 (though I may go for a half Britannia)

Either is good, lowest premium on the day or the colour you prefer!

[Tn21]

If the spot price of gold was to increase substanitally then having a few 1g bars may be ideal when you want to liquidate. 

[Roy]

1 hour ago, JunkBond said:

The poor old 1/2 oz gets a bit overlooked, have you considered a 1/2 krug, low premium and still a decent lump of a coin, blows a 1/4 out of the water.

Only take you half as long to save up for too.

Or double Sovereign?

[JunkBond]

24 minutes ago, Roy said:

Or double Sovereign?

I did think of that one Roy but where would one acquire said coin at a low premium, I would gladly swap my half krug for a nice double sov.

[Roy]

Really JB? They were always £x2 a sovereign?

Now, where's my spreadsheet?

[FlorinCollector]

7 hours ago, ilovesilverireallydo said:

7 gram or a gram? No way you getting 7 gram Gold bars for £37, and if you are, take all my money and get me some ?

Each gram £37 sorry :))

[delsolhonda]

me personally...i've bought probably 20ish IGR 1gram bars over the years, i pick them up periodically....yes premiums are high, but they sell with the same high premium on the back end. i used them to pay for trade items for other things i collect over the years(in turn putting more people into the precious metals game) but i always got the stiff premiums on the back end.

 

.....now, with that being said, the past 2 years i try to not get anything below tenths or quarters if i can afford it.

[sleepyshpeey]

1 gram bars carry terrible premiums. Often you pay  50 euro for a gram while spot is 35 euro. You pay almost 30% premium. 

For sovereigns  you pay less than 5% premium, same goes for gold bars starting at 10 gram. 

For me it's about getting the most value for my euro. I want to buy close to spot, maybe a small premium for a nice looking coin. I won't go smaller than a gold sovereign. You can sell silver in small amounts. If I would sell gold I would just sell 10 gram bars or sovereigns and buy back silver with the amount I have left. 

You could buy something like this, low premium and can be divided:

https://www.amsterdamgold.com/en/buy-gold/gold-bars/50-gram-golden-combi-bar

Edited April 12, 2018 by sleepyshpeey