Types Of Gold

When people think of gold, they conjure images of huge brick-like gold bars in vast bank vaults. Or they imagine treasure chests full of gold coins.

Others imagine nuggets of gold prized from the earth, or think of the various expressions alluding to ‘gold dust’. When investing into physical gold it’s crucial that you know which form offers the best value as an asset and which will be the easiest to sell at the highest price. In the same way as trying to sell an unusual house, realizing your profits on an obscure form of gold can prove difficult.

Part of our consultation process is determining the best type of gold investment to meet your individual goals. Whatever your circumstances, always stick to the recognised forms of investment gold. The HM Revenue & Customs definition is gold in the form of a bar or coin with a minimum purity of 995 thousandths for bars and 900/1000 for coins (minted after 1800). So basically that’s 22 karat gold coins and 24 karat gold bars. One common misconception is that a 1oz 22 karat coin has less gold than a 1oz 24 karat coin or bar. This is not true! All of these have 1oz of ‘pure gold’. The 22 karat coins simply have an additional 2 karats of alloy (copper and silver) to improve their wear and tear.

In this section we run through the various coins and bars available.