Gold Bar - Weight / Size / Type / Worth

A gold bar, also called gold bullion or a gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold of any shape that is made by a bar producer meeting standard conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record keeping. Larger gold bars that are produced by pouring the molten metal into molds are called ingots. Smaller bars may be manufactured by minting or stamping from appropriately rolled gold sheets. The standard gold bar held as gold reserves by central banks and traded among bullion dealers is the 400-troy-ounce (12.4 kg or 438.9 ounces) Good Delivery gold bar. The kilobar, which is 1000 grams in mass (32.15 troy ounces), is the bar that is more manageable and is used extensively for trading and investment. The premium on these bars when traded is very low over the spot value of the gold making it ideal for small transfers between banks and traders. Most kilobars are flat, although some investors, par ticularly in Europe, prefer the brick shape.

How much does a gold bar weigh?

Standard Weight of Gold Bar Gold Bars come in a variety of sizes - all of which have been standardized over the centuries. Modern gold bars are stamped with a purity (usually .999 or .9999 fine or pure) along with the weight of the bar and the manufacturer or mint that produced the bar. Standard Gold Bars come in the following sizes:

1 gm Gold Bars

1 oz Gold Bars

10 oz Gold Bars

1 Kilo (32.15 oz) Gold Bars

Gold Bars are priced based on a "spot price" per ounce of gold (which can be easily located on various stock or commodity exchanges around the world) plus any premium cost for the various sizes of bars you purchase. This premium is based heavily on availability of supply and demand for specific bar sizes, manufacturers and/or other factors. Gold is fairly expensive for it's weight, which is one of the reasons people like to own gold as an investment. It is a very compact "store of wealth", meaning you could literally have well over $100,000 in small gold bars that would take up less space than a small shoe box and can easily be stored in a small home safe. People often turn to gold to store their wealth for the following very good reasons: Gold is very compact - taking up very little space for the value of money Gold is easy to store - it doesn't rust, decay or dissolve Gold can easily be traded - gold has long been used as currency, being traded for other goods or services Gold is independent - it can be transferred into any other currency in the world Gold maintains a steady value - the price of gold may change but this is more a reflection of the inflation or deflation of a given currency. Gold maintains a very stable value - where modern paper currencies fluctuate greatly and can become worthless very quickly (See Argentina Hyper-Inflation of 1980-2000) Gold is not traceable - it doesn't have micro chips, serial numbers that are tracked, etc Gold is not taxed - while you may pay sales tax to purchase it, it is not taxed as property (like your home or real estate) Gold has no inheritance tax either - because it is untraceable and is a simple possession

One troy ounce = 31.1034768 grams. Thus if gold were at US$850 per ounce, a gold gram would be worth just over US$27. Note where gold is measured in ounces, these are troy ounces, not the much more common avoirdupois ounce which is used for measuring weights in food etc. An avoirdupois ounce is lighter than a troy ounce. One avoirdupois ounce = 28.349523125 grams. One tonne = 1000 kilograms = 32,150.746 troy ounces (value US$27,617,490 as of Oct. 10, 2008). One kilogram = 1000 grams = 32.15074656 troy ounces (value US$27,617.49 as of Oct. 10, 2008). One tola = 11.6638038 grams (value US$288.654 as of Dec. 2, 2008). One tael = 50 grams (value US$1,218.03 as of Oct. 15, 2007). TT (Ten Tola) = 117 grams (3.75 oz)

Largest gold bar

The world's largest gold bar stands at 250 kg (551 lb), measuring at the base 45.5 cm × 22.5 cm and 17 cm high with 5 degree draft angle (equal to 15,730  cm³, or 17.9 in × 8.9 in × 6.7 in ≈ 1062.04 in³). It was manufactured by the Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi

Types of gold bars

The Gold bars are classified into two different types, cast and minted, based on their method of manufacturing. Cast bars are made by pouring molten gold into an ingot mold to shape the gold product. Minted bars are made from gold blanks that have been hand cut to the required dimensions from a flat piece of gold. Markings are almost always applied by presses.

How much is a gold bar worth

The standard gold bar held and traded internationally by central banks and bullion dealers is the Good Delivery bar with a 400 oz (troy-ounce) (12.4 kg or 438.9 ounces) nominal weight. When I checked the price per oz at 4:56pm EST gold was trading at $1266.90. So 400 X $1266 = $506,400 per gold brick.