Your Opinion on Gold Bar Buying: 1 oz; 100 gm; 10 oz; and Condition

[giantsforever1]

Newbie here.

My goals for gold bar purchases are wealth preservation and SHTF protection.

I understand the premium differences between these types of bars, and I'm looking for guidance on which to buy, including the best return and easiest sale in an SHTF scenario.

One LCS is completely out of gold bars, the other in short supply or out over the past week (right now, only 1 oz and 100 gm).

The latter shop has really good prices on old/no packaging.

That LCS is willing to check the bars in person with its Sigma Metalytics Precious Metal Verifier Pro.

Here are some numbers to make things clearer:

Today's gold spot price now is $1,865

1 oz PAMP Fortuna gold bar: $1,876 bid, $1,971 ask (it's the only 1 oz in stock)

1 oz Royal Canadian Mint gold bar: $1,866/$1,946 (pre-sale)

1 oz generic old/no packaging gold bar: $1,836/$1,933

100 gm Valacambi gold bar: $5,921/$6,205 (in stock)

10 oz PAMP Fortuna gold bar: $18,609/$19,194 (out of stock)

Thanks

 

 

 

[MrTT]

Buy a 100 gram valacambi bar 👍

[giantsforever1]

Thanks. What are the advantages of the 100 grm bar?

[silenceissilver]

30 minutes ago, giantsforever1 said:

Thanks. What are the advantages of the 100 grm bar?

That you can break it into 100 one gram bars. That's the whole point of these bars.

Of course this concept has never been tested in pratice.  How sale-able is it, broken into pieces? No one knows yet. And how easy is it to sell the remaining 99 (98, 97,96....) bars?

Of course gram bars have the advantage in a SHTF scenario of having less goldt han a tenth of an ounce coin but personally I think for smaller payments than a 1/10 ounce, silver might be the better solution. I think it generally is if you are thinking of buying food in a SHTF scenario.

And for wealth preservation? I don't think it makes much of a difference which of a well known brand you buy. The size depends on your total spending on gold. If you buy less than a few dozens of ounces, I wouldn't even buy one 10 ounce bar because you'd need to sell too much of your total gold at once, in case you need it but not all of it.

Personally, I don't have any bars, only coins because:

Smaller bars are sold in sealed plastic and you can't take it out without destroying the package and unsealed they might make be less desirable for some buyers. But that also means you can't make a specific gravitity test, you can't weigh it.

I also have a Sigma Precious Metal Verifier Pro - something to consider here - without the external bridge (that I don't have) you can't measure big bars. One piece of 10 ounces is probably too much for this tester if it doesn't have the external bridge. Bigger bars are also more likely to contain a none gold core and it's harder to detect them. It should be fine for the Sigma Pro though.

Personally, if it was me, from what you have mentioned for selection, I would go for the unsealed bars. But that's just me.

[giantsforever1]

Thanks. About 100 gram bars, I meant solid, ie not the type that are and can be split up.

 

[silenceissilver]

I don't know why @MrTT recommended them if it was not the ones you can break up. They are certainly no bad choice, well known and the 100g size is popular but for me as a coin guy as good as any other bar, really. I have seen a video from a gold fair in Berlin where one dealer said that's their most sold size. If you buy more than let's say 1kg, there is nothing wrong with this size. If you only buy e.g. 300g, I would prefer to have more individual bars and prefer the one ounce bars.

Some go by the cheapest price. Personally, I would also not buy the PAMP Fortuna bars because of their higher premium.

[MrTT]

Check which bar has the best price per gram.

Larger bars has a bit lower price per gram then smaller bars, depends on the brand also.

[Metallurgic]

100 gr is the best choise for me!! much easier to sell  if needed than a 300gr bar. 100gr austrian mint bars

[giantsforever1]

Thanks. Please tell us about your experiences selling gold.

[Metallurgic]

The larger the bar the harder it is to sell, especially if you are  not going to sell to it a dealer(take -3%-4% off spot price if sold to a dealer).

 

Moreover, having 5x100gr bars vs a  500gr bar gives you the oppurtonity to sell part of your stack if needed.

Also keep in mind now that gold is on a bull market, dealers will buy back anything immediatelly, as there is high demand for gold and they will be able to resell it straight away  , but when things are slow and gold is not so desirable you might have a harder time selling a bigger bar (as in those times not everything sells the same) . 

For example in Greece when gold is low the only thing dealers buy straight away (on a fair price) is british sovereigns, as they are easy to resel, in the US might be something else e.x. 1oz AE and so on

[Silverman2U]

For the U.K. think CGT free coins. The environment is changing, if they bring in the CGT law to £5k per person, then government wants 40-50% CGT tax you really digging a hole buying bars, coins from the mint are the only way to go for the future I see. Wait and see  

[giantsforever1]

Thank you. 

[richatthecroft]

In my opinion, there's nothing more alluring than a cast bar of Gold- a 100g Cast Gold bar would be a sweet spot for me, if I were buying.  

I guess in terms of actually purchasing a huge lump of Gold, its about positioning yourself at a price you feel both comfortable with, and are bullish about- and I guess with hindsight, we all have an idea of what that price was! 😂

If you are bullish and comfortable now to invest in Gold, common sense would say that buying a dozen or so Sovereigns (or whatever the best value coins are in the USA) might be a better bet, and looking for the odd dip in price like there has been in the last week or so, sensible.   Buying slowly over a period of time on the dips another strategy.

Here's a nice bar that I would love to own +2.8% over spot here in the UK, I'm sure however, there will be better deals across the pond?:

https://www.bairdmint.com/products/100g-gold-cast-bar   
 

Btw, I would be immediately getting rid of that pesky tamper proof packaging it comes in, it would ruin the experience of ownership for me 😆

[giantsforever1]

Thanks. I would be reluctant to remove the tamper proof packaging if I planned to sell it, because I would think that it would either be hard to sell or I'd get a lower price. Has that been anyone's experience when selling?

[screamingeagle]

13 hours ago, giantsforever1 said:

Thanks. I would be reluctant to remove the tamper proof packaging if I planned to sell it, because I would think that it would either be hard to sell or I'd get a lower price. Has that been anyone's experience when selling?

Never had problems selling 999+ Gold, packaged or not. Some think that the packaging deserves a premium, whereas some think packaging better enables fakes. If you can prove it's real, it'll sell.

On that, bars from established mints generally sell before 'backyard pours' but again, if you can prove it's real, no problems. 

[richatthecroft]

14 hours ago, giantsforever1 said:

Thanks. I would be reluctant to remove the tamper proof packaging if I planned to sell it, because I would think that it would either be hard to sell or I'd get a lower price. Has that been anyone's experience when selling?

Agreed with some Gold bars such as PAMP & Britannia with a mirror finish and fancy design, but for me there’s nothing better than an aged and well handled cast bar. 

[giantsforever1]

Thanks.

screamingeagle, to whom did you sell your gold, eg LCS, Ebay, face-to-face?