Everything you need to know,
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Bullion in 5 minutes

Bullion is gold or silver valued for its metal, not its design. A bullion bar is basically a certified chunk of pure metal: it says what it is (say, 1 troy ounce of .999 fine gold) and that's what you're paying for.

People buy it for different reasons: to hold something real outside of a bank, to give a gift that keeps its value, to diversify, or simply because they like it. We don't give investment advice, but we're happy to explain how it all works.

Today, gold is — an ounce and silver is —. Those numbers move all day, which is why our prices update every few minutes and lock the moment you order.

Spot price & premiums

Spot price is the going rate for large wholesale amounts of raw metal, traded around the world almost 24 hours a day. It's the number you see on the news. Nobody sells finished bars at exactly spot, because turning raw metal into a stamped, certified bar and getting it to you costs money.

That extra is the premium. It covers refining, minting, packaging, insurance, shipping and the dealer's margin. A good way to compare dealers is the premium as a percentage over spot. Every bar on our site shows it, and each product page breaks the price into metal value and premium so you can see exactly what you're paying for.

Why do small bars cost more per gram? Making and packaging a 1 gram bar costs nearly as much as making a 1 ounce bar, so that fixed cost is a bigger slice of a small bar's price. Bigger bars = lower premium per ounce.

Why we sell generic bars

Famous refiners charge more for their logo and designs. We sell by weight and purity instead, so the brand is the luck of the draw: you might get a PAMP Suisse, a bar from another accredited refiner, or a plain generic bar. Every one is genuine .999+ metal of the exact weight you ordered.

When you sell bullion, buyers (including us) pay on weight and purity, so a generic bar is worth the same metal value as a branded one. Skipping the logo is one of the easiest ways to pay less.

Gold or silver?

Right now one ounce of gold costs about the same as — ounces of silver. People call that the gold-to-silver ratio. Many buyers simply own some of both.

Troy ounces & purity

Precious metals are weighed in troy ounces: 1 troy oz = 31.10 grams. The ounce in your kitchen (an avoirdupois ounce) is 28.35 grams, so a troy ounce is about 10% heavier. A kilo is 32.15 troy ounces.

Purity is written as fineness: .999 means 99.9% pure, .9999 means 99.99%. Jewelry uses karats instead: 24k is pure gold, 18k is 75%, 14k is 58.3% and 10k is 41.7%. That's why old jewelry is worth less per gram than a bar, and why our sell page pays by karat.

Bars vs. coins

Government coins like American Eagles carry legal tender status and a recognizable design, and they usually cost more over spot. Bars are the most metal for your money. If your goal is owning metal at the lowest premium, bars win. If you want something collectible or giftable, coins or custom rounds can be fun.

What can my budget buy?

Slide to your budget and we'll build the most metal for the money from today's live prices.

Storing it safely

• At home: a good safe, bolted down, out of sight. Tell as few people as possible.
• Bank safe deposit box: inexpensive, but contents usually aren't insured by the bank and access is limited to bank hours.
• Insurance: check whether your homeowner's or renter's policy covers bullion. Many cap it low unless you add a rider.
• Handling: keep bars in their packaging, handle by the edges, and keep silver dry to slow tarnish (which doesn't affect its metal value).

Selling it back

Bullion is easy to sell because buyers price it by weight and purity. We post our buy rates live and update them every 5 minutes, so you can always see what your bars are worth to us. See the sell page for today's payout per gram.

Taxes & reporting

This is general information, not tax advice. Talk to a tax professional about your situation.

• Sales tax: many states exempt bullion, some only above a dollar amount, and a few tax it. Texas exempts it; New York exempts bullion bought in a single purchase over $1,000.
• When you sell: the IRS treats physical gold and silver as collectibles. Long-term gains on collectibles are taxed at your ordinary rate up to a 28% maximum.
• Reporting: businesses must report cash payments over $10,000 on IRS Form 8300, and dealers report certain sales by customers on Form 1099-B.

Glossary

Plain-English definitions. Hover the dotted words anywhere in these guides for quick tips too.