How Much Is a Gold Bar Worth?

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Gold has been a mythical substance of lore and aspiration since mankind first laid eyes on it. To this day it remains more than just something dragons wish to covet.

Gold was the barometer by which many modern currencies were measured. However, countries across the globe abandoned the gold standard long ago. As a result, gold prices vary freely on the open market, which entices investors hoping to profit from appreciating values in much the same way they do stocks. When it comes to investing in gold, there are many factors to consider. 

What Is a Gold Bar?

A gold bar is metallic gold that has been refined and cast or minted into a shape. That shape is often the typical rectangular bar shape, but can also be round, square or a rod.

What Affects the Price of Gold?

A minted gold bar can vary not only in size and weight but also in market value. Gold prices are dictated by many factors but mainly by the following areas:

• Economic climate: Overall, gold rarely fluctuates much in value and is considered a safe haven investment. When the market is down, or even during times of financial crisis, investors tend to buy gold, which can increase both its value and price.
• Supply and demand: The value of physical gold may go up or down depending on how much is currently available. As supply and demand would suggest, the less there is of something, the more it will cost. 
• Interest rates: Gold prices usually move inversely to long-term interest rates. That means prices tend to increase when rates increase and fall when rates fall.
• Investor sentiment: Pessimistic expectations about the economy correlate to higher gold prices, according to a Chicago Fed study.
• Inflation: The U.S. dollar’s value decreases as inflation rates get higher. However, gold isn’t tied to the dollar, so you could possibly use it to hedge against inflation. 

How Much Is a Gold Bar Worth?

Though gold bar weight classifications typically break down into either grams or ounces, to help account for global units of measurement, the 1-ounce gold bar is what is used to calculate live gold prices. Only in this case, the ounce is a troy ounce, which is the unit used when measuring precious metals. With troy ounces, 12 ounces equal one pound. Given these conversions, a 1-pound gold bar would be currently worth $26,040.

Current Gold Bar Price by Weight

Ways To Invest in Gold

When it comes to gold, there are many different ways to invest. Here are the options:

• Physical metal: When you purchase physical gold, you have possession of the gold itself — though you may pay a gold dealer to store it for you.
• Futures: A gold future is a contract to purchase a quantity of gold at an agreed price on a future date.
• ETFs: An exchange-traded fund is made up of a group of assets and is purchased from an exchange or a broker. Gold ETFs are backed by physical gold and intended to reflect its market price.
• Mining stocks: Purchasing shares of companies that mine gold is another way of investing in gold indirectly, without buying physical gold.
• Gold IRAs: A gold IRA allows you to invest in gold for your retirement account, while regular IRAs do not allow you to hold physical gold for retirement.

How To Buy Gold

The standard way to invest in gold is to purchase gold bullion, which typically comes in the form of minted gold bars or rounds. Bullion ranges in purity from 99.5% to 99.99% (also known as 9999 gold), and prices vary according to current market prices for the particular purity and weight of the bullion you’re looking to purchase. Common bar sizes include one ounce, 10 ounces and 400 ounces, and 100 grams and one kilogram. Popular round sizes include 0.10 ounce, 0.50 ounce and one ounce.

Bars and rounds aren’t the only forms of gold you can purchase. You might also consider the following:

• Coins: Unlike rounds, gold coins are legal tender that, according to Private Bullion, always display the coin’s weight, purity, face value and year. They’re highly collectible because they’re always worth at least their face value, although that can be considerably less than the purchase price.
• Ingots: Ingots are gold bars that have been poured, or cast, instead of minted. As with minted bars, ingots are at least 99.5% pure.

You can purchase gold bullion, including minted bars, ingots and rounds, from a dealer, but make sure the dealer is reputable before you invest. Some to consider include:

• American Precious Metals Exchange (APMEX)
• Buy Gold and Silver Coins (BGASC)
• JM Bullion
• Money Metals Exchange
• SD Bullion

The U.S. Mint makes gold coins available through a network of official distributors called authorized purchasers. Authorized purchasers buy and sell to wholesalers, financial institutions and other retailers.

Final Take: Should You Invest in Gold?

Gold has a pretty solid track record as a physical asset. Whether it’s buying minted bars or putting your money in gold ETFs, most financial advisors would consider gold a safe haven investment that can diversify your portfolio while maintaining a high degree of liquidity. What’s more, the variety of investment types and physical gold sizes and weights makes gold accessible to most investors. However, it’s important to weigh the various investing options against your financial goals.

While physical gold can be a safer investment than stocks or ETFs, you’ll pay more for the bullion or coins than the raw gold content is worth. In addition, capital gains from the sale of physical gold are taxed at a higher rate than gains from gold stocks and ETFs.

Daria Uhlig and Amber Barkley contributed to the reporting for this article.

Data is accurate as of March 20, 2024, and is subject to change.

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