Good Delivery Bars

Good Delivery bars © Own image

Good Delivery Bars: Does it matter what type of bar I buy?

The precious metals experts at Gold & Co. recommend that you definitely buy a bar from a Good Delivery manufacturer. If you buy a Good Delivery bar, a problem-free repurchase is assured.

What are good delivery bars?

In Vienna, you can find many companies that sell gold bars. Well-known names in the industry are Gold & Co, Ögussa, Philoro and the Austrian Mint. In addition, you can also buy gold bars from banks, some of which have their own mintings.

Good Delivery bars are bars produced by LMBA certified manufacturers. The LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) is an international association based in London, England and includes and represents the main players in the gold market, as well as their customers. These include central banks and companies that predominantly produce gold bullion and silver bars. Furthermore, the association awards the LBMA certificate only to manufacturers who submit to strict controls and requirements. This guarantees the authenticity and purity of the bars, which is why you can sell these gold bars worldwide without any problems and without deductions. Gold & Co. offers exclusively silver and gold bars from Good Delivery productions (such as precious metals from the Austrian Mint or Argor Heraeus).

In Austria, only the Austrian Mint holds this certificate, which is issued by the LBMA (London Bullion Market Association) under strict controls and conditions.

In Switzerland it is, among others, Argor Heraeus, in Germany, for example, C.Hafner. Only those manufacturers, certified by the LBMA, also have the license for the production of the 400-ounce bars. The 400-ounce bars have an absolute weight of 12.5 kg and are traded internationally by states, banks and large investors.

Good Delivery bars are usually accepted all over the world and purchased by almost all banks and precious metal dealers without any problems. Weight and precious metal (gold or silver bars) do not matter. Bars from other manufacturers are not purchased by banks at all and by precious metal dealers only with high extra discounts. For gold bars from non-Good-Delivery manufacturers, you must therefore expect discounts of up to 15%.

1 kilogram of gold currently costs 38,620 euros on the stock exchange, a price deduction of 15% already makes a big difference. But how does this price difference come about? As already mentioned, non-Good-Delivery products are only partially accepted worldwide, or are purchased at a high discount. If you are selling a non-certified precious metal, such as gold or silver, reputable precious metal dealers will have these precious metals melted down. This process is usually handled by refiners. These are companies that separate or dissolve base metals or impurities from the gold or silver. In the next step, the non-certified bars are cast into gold bars that are allowed to carry the Good Delivery Certificate. By melting down and re-stamping the bars, the price difference of up to 15% is obtained.

In comparison a 10 gram bar of a Good-Delivery manufacturer (eg Argor-Heraeus) and 10 gram bars of a manufacturer without Good-Delivery certificate (bars of an Austrian refinery). Both have a fineness: 999.99, in terms of purity and quality there is no difference - this lies only in the
Acceptance by dealers: The Argor-Heraeus bar is considered bankable - the Ögussa bar is not.

A listing of all worldwide manufacturers of Good Delivery bars can be found on the LBMA website.

Ögussa gold bars are also pure precious metal

Of course, gold bars from non-certified manufacturers also normally contain the imprinted gold content. Only pay attention to the minimum fineness of 999.9, because there are also gold bars with 995 or 999.0 fineness. You can usually sell uncertified gold at normal conditions where you bought it. Please note the fluctuating gold price.

Another tip: In vacation destinations, the same applies to investment gold as to expensive jewelry. Do NOT buy gold, even if the price may be tempting. Unless it is verifiable products of the local Good Delivery manufacturers (compare manufacturers of the LBMA). Various certificates for jewelry, gold & silver bars and coins have mostly proven to be worthless or low-value fakes.

If you want to invest your money in bars of gold and silver, you should buy Good Delivery bars! We are often asked whether it is better to invest in gold bars, silver bars, gold coins or silver coins. Our consulting service in our branches in Vienna will be happy to help you decide which form of investment is right for you.

For more tips & information, see "Investing money properly in gold" and "The LBMA gold fixing". If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at any time or stop by one of our branches in the 9th or 22nd district. We are looking forward to meeting you!

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