Gold bar

For the U.S. city, see Gold Bar, Washington.

A gold bar is a gold ingot which may be produced in many different types, weights and categories.

Types

Gold bars are classified into two different classes — cast and minted — based on their method of manufacturing ^[1]. Cast bars are made by pouring molten gold into an ingot mold to help the gold to take a form. 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.

• 
  12.5 kg cast bars
• 
  1 kg minted bar
• 
  1 oz holographic kinebar

Weights and values

One-ounce gold bar

One troy ounce = 31.1034768 grams. Thus if gold was at US$600 per ounce, a gold gram would be worth just under US$20.

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$19,290,000).
• One kilogram = 1000 grams = 32.15074656 troy ounces (value US$19,290.44).
• One tael = 50 grams (value US$964.50).

Beware, this is the official rate of taels in mainland China since the country went metric. However, historically a tael's weight could be as little as 36.7 grams depending on the customs of the province. In Taiwan and Hong Kong today a tael is equivalent to 37.429g.

The current value of gold places a price of approximately $241,000 on a 12.5 kg (400 troy ounces) (London Good Delivery) bar of gold.

Gold is very dense (19.3 g/cm³), to the extent that ten million U.S. dollars worth occupies less than one cubic foot.

References

^ The International Gold Bars Collection "Bar Types, Weights and Purities" URL accessed on December 24 2005. A gold bar is 100kg

See also

• Precious metal
• Fort Knox Bullion Depository
• Gold as an investment
• Gold coin
• Millesimal fineness
• Official gold reserves
• Dore bar
• Bullion
• Ingot

External links

• Categories of gold bar
• Sealed gold bar