- Why is the price of investment coins and bars always a bit higher than the price of gold on the open market?

Gold is sold on the open market at the so-called spot price. There are spot price implications you should be aware of. It also represents the price of bank gold bullion. In accordance with LBMA standards, bank bars must weigh 400 ounces (12.441 kg) and have a purity of 99.5%. In order to buy gold as bank bars at commodity market prices, you must become an official trader. This can be quite a costly procedure. Only banks and the biggest players on the gold market can afford it. If you decide to purchase a gold bar, you'll end up buying it at a slightly higher price than registered traders do. This is not rocket science since the seller adds a premium to the selling price. In order to make investment coins or bars out of bank gold bars, the manufacturer has to refine the gold and increase its purity from 99.5% to 99.9% or higher. Then he needs to develop and manufacture casts for coins or bars and this also entails additional costs. Then you need to anneal the metal and finally mint the coin or bar. Light investment bars are usually produced by stamping rather than by casting. This makes investment gold bars smooth, flat and visually attractive.

Needless to say, it's more expensive to mint a coin than to stamp a gold bar. However, one should also bear in mind that investment bars from leading manufacturers are assigned unique numbers after stamping and the numbered package acts as a certificate. This also implies additional expenses. For all these reasons, the price of investment coins and bars is approximately equal, and it is always slightly higher than the price of gold on the open market. The price differential per gram only arises when you buy bars and coins that weigh 100 grams or more. In this case, buying bars is more profitable. Nonetheless, selling gold bars is more complicated than selling coins.

Additionally, if you transfer gold coins, it doesn`t usually attract much attention on the part of customs authorities compared to the import and export of gold bars. Every option has its pros and cons.