Sell gold bars and bullion

Cast or minted: telling the two kinds apart

A cast bar was poured into a mould. The top face is slightly uneven, the edges are rounded and soft, and the marks are stamped into the metal after it has cooled. Larger cast bars often have a pitted or rippled surface where the gold set. That is normal for a cast bar.

A minted bar was cut from rolled strip and struck in a press. It is flat, bright and sharp along every edge, and the design and lettering are raised rather than punched. Many minted bars are sold inside a sealed plastic card with a printed assay certificate carrying the same serial number as the bar. Both kinds can be the same fineness of gold.

• The refiner's name or mark, usually the largest thing on the face
• The fineness, written as 999.9, 999, 995 or occasionally as 24ct
• The weight, in grams or in troy ounces
• A serial number, on almost all minted bars and on larger cast bars
• An assayer's signature or stamp on the certificate, where there is one

Why the sealed card stays shut

A sealed bar is checked through the card as far as that allows: its marks, serial and packaging are compared with the certificate and the whole card is weighed. Where that leaves doubt, we tell you and ask what you want to do; the card is not opened without your written agreement. If the pack was opened years ago, or the bar was bought loose, it is measured and listed in the same way as any other. An intact seal makes a bar easier to resell; it does not prove what the metal is.

How a bar is verified without a mark on it

Gold is very dense, and that is the basis of the check. A bar of the right dimensions has to weigh what the refiner says it weighs. Right size but light, or right weight but noticeably thick, is a warning before any other check is made.

1. Measured against the refiner's figuresLength, width, thickness and weight, compared with the specification the refiner publishes for that product where one exists. Older and discontinued bars may have no published figures, and the offer says so.
2. XRF: not in use hereX-ray fluorescence (XRF) can confirm that the surface is gold of the stated fineness, but no analyser is in use here, and it reads only a thin surface layer, a matter of microns, so it would not be the end of the check.
3. Density, and what it cannot quite settleA thick gold shell over another metal passes a surface reading. Tungsten is the one that matters, because its density is within half a per cent of gold's, so on all but the largest bars weighing in water cannot settle the question. Size against weight catches cruder fakes. An ultrasonic test would settle it, because sound crosses tungsten much faster than gold, but no ultrasonic gauge is in use here. Where doubt remains, you are told, and the bar is either priced cautiously, with the doubt written on your offer, or left out of the offer and sent back; the offer says which (the terms, clauses 4.4 and 5.1).
4. Marks, serial and strikeThe refiner's mark, fineness and serial number are photographed and compared with the certificate. Font, spacing and edge quality are part of the comparison, because counterfeit packaging is often close to the real thing.

Every measurement is written down and sent to you. If a bar does not pass, you are told which check it failed and shown the figures, and the bar comes back. No bar is treated as gold on the strength of its stamp alone. XRF capabilities and limits explains what a surface reading can and cannot establish.

The bars that are not bars

Gold-coloured ingots are sold as ornaments, as advertising and as outright fakes, and they are convincing on a shelf. The signs are mostly about what is missing. A bar from a recognised refiner names the refiner and the fineness. A novelty says something vaguer.

“999 fine gold” and nothing else

No refiner, no weight, no serial. Recognised refiners put their name on their own product, so an anonymous bar needs more checking.

“Gold clad”, “gold layered”, “24K plated”

Base metal with a coating. Often sold in a card that copies the look of an assay pack down to the font.

Bars in a wallet with a hologram and no serial

The hologram is decoration. A real minted pack carries a serial that matches the bar underneath it.

Large bars bought cheaply

If a large bar was bought for far less than gold of that weight would cost, treat it with caution until it has been checked.

Souvenir “bullion” from a mint set

Gilded silver or base-metal wafers issued with commemorative sets. Usually stamped with a theme rather than a fineness.

None of this is a reason not to send something. A novelty bar in a parcel is identified, named on the list and posted back at no charge. It is better than throwing away something real because it looked like a souvenir.

Sending more than one bar

Small bars are easy to post and easy to lose in a big parcel. Pack each in its own bag or card, with the certificate folded in beside it rather than in a separate envelope. Keep any purchase invoice with the bar if you still have it; it is not required, but it saves questions later where a sale is large.

If your bars are worth more than one parcel can be covered for, they are split across several parcels, agreed with you in writing before anything is posted. Parcels that arrive on different days are priced as separate lots unless you ask us in writing to hold the first until the rest arrive (the terms, clause 3.3); when we agree a split with you, we ask whether you want one offer for all the parcels or a separate offer for each. Tell us roughly what you have before you pack. Posting safely and cover sets out who carries the risk in the post, and payment is by bank transfer, never cash, for the reasons given on responsible sourcing and AML.

With bullion it is worth asking a bullion dealer about that exact product before you decide. A sealed minted bar from a well-known refiner is a retail item a dealer can resell as it stands, which is a different market from ours. We will say so when we think it applies to what you have sent.

What happens to a bar when it arrives

• The parcel is photographed unopened, then opened, and the bars are photographed as they arrived, cards and certificates included, before anything is handled.
• Each bar is measured and weighed and, where it is out of its card, checked by density in water. Every figure is recorded against that serial number.
• Each bar appears on the list on its own line, with its refiner, stated fineness, measured weight and the results of the checks. Bars are never merged into one entry.
• Anything that does not pass is described, photographed and posted back with the readings that failed it.
• One written offer covers the lot, and nothing is sold, melted or moved on until you accept it; offers, returns and payment sets out what happens next.

A bar is straightforward to describe, because most of the checks are measurements that can be set against a figure the refiner published. The report you get back is mostly numbers, each set beside that figure where one exists. The other stages, from first photograph to payment, are on how it works, and selling gold by post covers gold that arrives in any other form.

What we buy, and what we leave out

Stopped before anything is treated as scrap

• A sealed minted bar from a well-known refiner may be worth more to a bullion dealer who can resell it as it stands, and we say so
• Limited-edition and commemorative minted bars sometimes carry collector interest beyond the metal
• Old cast bars with historic refiner marks are of interest to collectors of bullion history
• For a large holding, a quote from a bullion dealer for that exact product is worth having before you decide anything
• A bar still with its original certificate is kept with it as a pair