Gold bars are a kind of physical gold investment. The investment varieties in the gold market are mainly divided into physical gold investment and gold investment derivatives derived from physical gold. Derivatives mainly include gold futures and gold options.
Gold bars are similar to gold coins and are mainly divided into commemorative gold bars and general investment gold bars. Commemorative gold bars are generally issued at a price higher than the value of their gold raw materials, and the price is generally fixed. For example, the New Year's gold bars issued by China in recent years and the Olympic gold bars in 2008 are all dedicated commemorative gold bars. The main difference between ordinary investment gold bars and ordinary gold coins lies in the different specifications. There are usually four types of typical common gold coins: 1 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce and110 ounce. The specifications are generally small, but there are also 1 kg and 10 oz. The specifications of gold bars are larger than those of gold coins.
At present, China gold investors often have misunderstandings when choosing gold bars and coins for investment. It is believed that as long as gold bars and coins have the same price, the same quality and the same investment function, they are not.
As far as the pricing mechanism is concerned, the prices of commemorative gold bars and commemorative coins are basically fixed, but they already contain a higher premium, which is usually more than 10% higher than that of international gold raw materials. It is not recommended for ordinary investors who have no collection awareness or knowledge. Buying such gold bars and coins is just like buying commemorative stamps. Are you such a collector? Secondly, such gold bars and coins have poor liquidity, and once purchased, it is difficult to realize the ideal price. Ordinary gold merchants just buy them back as gold raw materials. After deducting related expenses, the repurchase price is usually lower than the price of gold raw materials at that time, so it is difficult for ordinary investors to realize investment income. This kind of gold bars and coins are suitable for collectors, at least for those who have been collecting for more than 3 years. It is not appropriate to buy and sell gold bars and coins in the short and medium term through investors. For most investors, the first choice for investing in physical gold should be to invest in gold bars and coins. Their premium is lower than that of international gold raw materials, and their prices change with the international gold price at any time.
However, the investment gold bars issued by different gold merchants have great differences in transaction costs and liquidity, especially in the chaotic gold market in China. For the same variety of investment gold bars, some have a round-trip transaction cost of three to five yuan per gram, and some are as high as ten yuan. In addition, liquidity should also be an issue that investors need to consider. Some gold bars are sold and repurchased in gold shops, some are sold and repurchased through banks, and some gold bars will set other repurchase conditions, such as being repurchased only on a specific date, which will limit their circulation function. The quality of gold bars and coins themselves is also a problem that investors need to pay attention to.