Gold Bar Sizes & Weights

Gold bars are one of the most convenient options for physical gold investors; not only because of their low prices per ounce compared to other forms of the metal, but also because they are available in such a large variety of sizes. The availability of each of these sizes means that no matter what your budget is, there is surely a gold bar for you (they’re available at just about every price point).

Learn More About Gold Bar Sizes

As a quick example; say you are looking to spend $500 on gold bullion. You would obviously not be able to afford a full troy ounce of gold (at least in today’s market), which is where fractional and gram gold bars come in handy. Instead of buying a full ounce of gold for around $1,200 (at the time of this posting), you could buy say a 10 gram gold bar for right around that $500 price.

Gold Bar Weight Classes

Generally speaking, there are two main weight classes of gold bullion; the gram gold bars and the ounce gold bars. Within these classes there are dozens of specified sizes and many brands that make gold bars. These bars can range from around $50 USD to over $100,000 depending on their purity and weight. Below we will go into full detail on these two main bar weights.

Gram Gold Bars

Gram gold bars are one of the most popular sizes of gold bullion which are available for investment. These types of gold bars are a top pick for the investor that has an exact dollar amount in their head of what they are looking to spend on their investment. It is also a great way for new investors to gain exposure to gold inexpensively.

Because the gram is a smaller unit of measurement, these bars are available at much more specific prices. As an example, if someone was to buy gold bars by the troy ounce, and they wanted to buy two bars, it would cost them around $2,600. However if one wanted to buy 2 gram sized gold bars, they would be able to do so for as little as $100 or so.

Another advantage of the gram sized bars is that they are highly liquid and more divisible than ounce sized bars. This means that at any point you can sell a specified amount fairly easily and without getting rid of your entire investment.

Gram Gold Bar Sizes

These bars can be produced by any mint or refinery and are most commonly found in 1 gram, 2.5 gram, 5 gram, 10 gram, 20 gram, 100 gram and Kilogram sizes. Generally speaking, the larger the amount of gold contained within the bar, the lower the premium is over spot price per gram.

Gram Gold Bar Prices

Compared to, say a 10 oz or 1 troy ounce gold bar, small gram gold bars usually carry a slightly higher premium. This is mainly caused by the cost of production associated with minting these bars. Obviously since the mint or refinery is making a smaller sized bar, their cost per ounce is going to be higher. For example it will cost them more by stamping 1000 1 gram gold bars as opposed to 1 Kilogram bar. These premiums get passed down from the mints to the distributors which in turn means you will usually be paying a little bit more for that gram bar than say a full ounce bar.

Popular Gram Gold Bars

There are many gram sized gold bars available for sale online from the major gold dealers. Some of the most commonly traded bars are listed below.

Full Ounce Gold Bars

The 1 troy ounce gold bar is one of the cheapest ways to invest in the rare yellow metal. Full troy ounce gold bars weigh approximately 31.1 grams and are one of the more cost efficient ways to gain exposure to gold. These bars are usually available for lower premiums per ounce than gram sized bars and are produced with purities of .999 (99.9%) or .9999 (99.99%).

Most all mints have their own version of the 1 oz gold bar and this size is stamped with artistic designs depicting anything from animals to paper currency. A less common full ounce sized bar is the 10 oz variation. These are minted by a more limited amount of manufacturers though they are often slightly cheaper than the 1 oz gold bar.

Full Ounce Gold Bar Sizes and Pricing

The 1 oz gold bar sits right in the middle of both the weight and price spectrum. Because these bars contain more pure gold than gram sized bars they will obviously cost more to purchase, but will have a lower price over spot per ounce. These lower premiums over spot price makes it one of the most commonly traded sizes of gold bullion in the market.

It can also be easier to keep track of your cost per ounce of metal as opposed to buying say a 2.5 gram gold bar. 10 troy ounce gold bars are usually priced lower per ounce as the general rule is the more you buy, the cheaper the price. Buying these sized gold bars can help you get the lowest cost per ounce if that is your main goal.

Popular Ounce Gold Bars

Like the gram sized gold bars, there are an endless amount of minting companies in all parts of the world making gold bullion in ounce sizes. Listed below are some of the most commonly traded brands of ounce gold bars.

Gram vs Ounce Gold Bars

Aside from their premiums relative to the current gold spot price, there is not too much of a difference between gram, fractional or ounce gold bars. For this reason, it is really just a matter of your budget and personal preferences. When buying a higher premium gram-sized bar, you can sometimes get most of that premium back when you decide to liquidate your investment. In conclusion, you should buy whichever bar fits with your budget while comparing prices on the same product across your favorite gold bar dealers.