Gold bar Shapes and Sizes
A gold bar is mainly defined as refined gold with certain characteristic regarding manufacturing and labeling. It can come in any shape and it is mainly categorized into smaller and larger bars made out of gold. The difference between these two types is that the larger ones are produced by pouring the melted gold into shapes which are called ingots, whilst the smaller ones are produced by minting rolled gold sheets.
Regarding the most used gold bar for trading, we could say that it is the kilobar which is the equivalent of 1000 grams. What makes it so popular for investment is the fact that is has a low premium over the gold spot price. Therefore, this particular bar made out of gold is desirable when it comes to transfers between participants on the spot market like banks and private individual traders. The shape in which comes the bar with a weight of 1000 grams is flat or a brick shape. The latter is preferred by European investors.
Central banks have a standard quantity regarding their reserves of gold bars and it is 400 troy ounces Good Delivery gold bar. It is also a standard weight valid for transfers among bullion dealers.
Invest in Gold Bar
It is always good to have a diversification of assets and investing into a precious metal can never harm someone. One alternative to invest into gold is the acquirement of a gold bar. The thing known by most people is that the largest the quantity is the smaller it will be the premium.
If we were to buy a gold bar of a certain weight and we compare it with the amount of gold coins that should be bought in order to reach the respective weight, we would notice that it is cheaper and more convenient to invest into a bar made out of gold.
When investing into gold bars, investors automatically avoid the payment of VAT because they are free of taxes. We will also invest your money into something that has a high quality, being manufactured from 99.5% pure gold or more.
Impressive Gold Bar
When talking about precious metals it is also impressive to know the biggest quantities ever produced and how much they value. Anyone is amazed by such facts letting his imagination loose, just thinking how it would be like to be the possessor of the largest gold bar ever produced.
The largest ever manufactured gold bar has the following impressing characteristic: it weighs 250 kg which is the same as 551 pounds and it measures 17403.75 cm, which can also be measured as 1062.04 in (45.5 cm x 22.5 cm x 17 cm or 17.9 in x 8.9 in x 6.7 in).
The premium associated with this gold bar must be spectacular but we can tell you that without the premium, taking into consideration only the value of gold, it was estimated to cost US $3,684,000 in 2005 when it was manufactured.
In 2011 the value of this gold bar produced by the Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, it was estimated to cost US $15.3 million, at an approximate gold price of US $1,900 per troy ounce, which is the biggest example of how the price of gold has increased over time and for which people should buy gold, invest in it.