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Section 2 of 6

Bars, Coins and Purity

The standard forms physical gold comes in, what the purity numbers mean, and how to tell a genuine bar from an expensive piece of brass.

99.5% Precious metal threshold
995.0 LBMA minimum fineness
350-430oz Good Delivery bar range
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Physical Gold: Bars, Coins, Wafers and Purity Explained

Physical gold comes in a small number of standard forms, and the differences between them are mostly about purity, size and how easy the piece is to verify and resell. A one ounce bar and a one ounce coin hold the same metal. What separates them is the premium you pay, the ease of proving they are genuine, and in Canada, whether they can sit inside a registered plan.

Five plain gold bullion bars of descending sizes arranged in a row on a dark charcoal surface
Bars run from a single gram up to the 400 ounce wholesale bars that never leave a vault. Smaller bars cost more per gram.

What Vanhess does and does not do

Vanhess is a jewellery shop in Coquitlam, British Columbia. We sell solid gold jewellery. We do not sell bullion, bars, coins or wafers, we do not buy or broker investments, and we are not financial advisors, tax advisors or a bullion dealer. Everything on this page is general information to help you understand how gold is priced and valued. It is not financial, investment or tax advice. Speak to a licensed advisor or an accountant before making a decision about your money.

The purity that changes everything

Two purity numbers do real work in Canada. The Excise Tax Act sets 99.5 percent as the line at which gold in bar, ingot, coin or wafer form counts as a precious metal. The LBMA Good Delivery Rules set 995.0 parts per thousand as the minimum fineness for a Good Delivery bar, which must contain between 350 and 430 fine troy ounces, roughly 10.9 to 13.4 kilograms.

Most retail bullion sits well above both lines. Royal Canadian Mint gold bars are .9999 fine, and the Gold Maple Leaf was the first bullion coin struck at 99.99 percent purity, with a 99.999 percent version also produced.

Standard physical gold formats. Purity figures from the Royal Canadian Mint and the LBMA Good Delivery Rules.
Form Typical purity What it is good for
Minted bar 99.99% Small sizes, sealed assay card, easy to verify and resell
Cast bar 99.5% to 99.99% Larger sizes, lower premium per gram, rougher finish
Bullion coin 99.5% to 99.999% Legal tender, widely recognised, easy to sell privately
Wafer 99.99% Thin, small, low entry cost, higher premium per gram
Good Delivery bar 995.0 minimum Wholesale only, 350 to 430 fine troy ounces

Worth knowing

Smaller is not cheaper. A one gram bar and a one kilogram bar hold the same metal per gram, but the small bar costs far more per gram because refining, packaging and handling are charged per piece, not per gram.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are gold bars or gold coins better?

Neither is better in general. Bars usually carry a lower premium per gram, especially in larger sizes. Coins are legal tender, more widely recognised by private buyers, and in Canada a Royal Canadian Mint bullion coin can be held in an RRSP or TFSA if it meets the purity and purchase conditions in CRA Folio S3-F10-C1.

What does 99.99 percent pure mean?

It means 9,999 parts in every 10,000 are gold, often written as .9999 or called four nines. For comparison, 18K jewellery is 75 percent gold and 14K is 58.3 percent, because jewellery alloys add other metals for hardness and colour.

Does Vanhess sell gold bars?

No. We sell solid gold jewellery from our Coquitlam shop. We are not a bullion dealer. This section exists to explain the difference, not to sell you bullion.

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