A gold
bar is
a quantity of refined metallic gold of
any shape that is made by a bar producer meeting standard
conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record keeping. Larger
gold bars that are produced by pouring the molten metal into molds
are called ingots. Smaller
bars may be manufactured by minting or stamping from appropriately
rolled gold sheets. The standard gold bar held as gold
reserves by central
banks and traded among bullion
dealers is the ***-troy-ounce (*2.4 kg or **8.9
ounces) Good Delivery gold bar. The kilobar, which is ***0 grams
in mass (*2.*5 troy ounces), is the bar that is more manageable and
is used extensively for trading and investment. The premium on
these bars when traded is very low over the spot value of the gold
making it ideal for small transfers between banks and traders. Most
kilobars are flat, although some investors, particularly in Europe,
prefer the brick shape. Asian
markets differ in that they prefer gram gold bars as opposed to
Troy ounce measurements. Popular sizes in the Asian region includes
*0 grams, **0 grams and 1,**0 gram
bars.
