Gold bar visuals are frequently featured in animation and motion pictures. The sight of a large pyramid-shaped stack of gold bars with trapezoidal shapes is quite shocking. Do you know that gold bars similar to these circulate widely both in the real world and on stage in the fictional world?
From ancient times to the present, rich people have held gold bars to ensure their assets. Due to the recent economic unpredictability brought on by global monetary easing and Brexit-related issues, many people have become interested in investing in gold. Because of this, gold bars are widely available in the world of investments. Today, many middle-class families own gold as well as wealthy individuals, thanks to the global investment boom.
Gold bars are called “gold bullion” in the field of investment and precious metals acquisition.
Pure gold is used to make gold bars. There will be a lot of trouble if such expensive items are counterfeited, or inferior goods are sold. As a result, numerous stringent laws have been established to prevent the forging of gold bars. Our lives are supported by these gold bars, which adhere to strict censorship standards. We will now go over some fundamental information about gold bullion.
Use gold bars to activate tourism industry
I believe that everyone has a great impression toward gold as they are such precious treasure. Many local governments are now taking advantage of this impression and use gold bars to attract tourism.
Sado Gold Mine (Sado Kinzan) Gold Nugget Challenge
Sado Kinzan, in Sado City, Niigata Prefecture, provided the wealth of the Edo era. A sizable bar weighing 12.5 kg is on display in a clear display case in the Sado Kinzan Museum. The “Gold Bar Challenge,” an activity that involves taking a gold bar out of a box, has received high praise from tourists. The gold bar can be obtained as a memento if it is removed easily. Do you want to accept a challenge as well?
Awaji Island leased 100 million yen gold bars
The government promoted subsidies for the “Hometown Creation Project” during the economic downturn. The total amount of subsidies across all regions was 100 million yen. All one hundred million yen were spent renting gold bars on Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture. This gold nugget was first displayed in the Shizunosato Park museum in 1989, the first year of the Heisei, and has since become a popular destination for gold enthusiasts. After the project was finished in 2010, the gold nugget was given back to the lender’s Mitsubishi Materials Corporation. The archive has a replica of the gold nugget on display.
Asset utilization of gold bars
More and more people are purchasing bullion in an effort to safeguard the value of their assets as a result of the recent investment boom and general economic unrest. Compared to stocks and bonds, gold is a relatively safe investment. More people are choosing to invest in gold, particularly when the global situation is unstable and credit risks rise as a result of financial and political policies. The asset value of gold is quite high. It is even owned by different nations’ central banks. The gold bars are also made specifically to meet the need to protect assets. Gold coins are also in circulation in the market for investment and asset utilization but processing them into gold coins incurs additional costs. In contrast, the processing of the bar is only the operation of heating into the mold and casting, and it hardly costs much. Therefore, gold is a very good investment and asset utilization target.The specifications for gold bars are extremely strict
Pure gold is used to make gold bars. In other words, gold doesn’t really get any other metals added to it. The bullion circulating in the market is 24K gold, which represents pure gold. Bars of 18K gold are typically not traded. Even though it is claimed to be pure gold, the purity is not 100% because it is extremely difficult to produce 100% pure gold. Additionally, there is a chance that counterfeit goods will appear on the market. As a result, the representative trading market will establish purity standards, and certification lists for quality assurance and dissolving companies are also listed.
LBMA (London Bullion Market Association)
The London Gold Market Standard Delivery Bar was created by the London Bullion Market Association (Good Delivery Bar). The gold bullion that is traded as a Good Delivery Bar must be at least 99.5% pure. Additionally, the Tokyo Commodity Exchange in Japan trades gold with a purity of 99.99% or higher. The Middle East typically trades gold with purity above 99.5%, but other locations such as China, Taiwan, and others also do so. Additionally, Good Delivery Bar has strict requirements. The gold must be produced by a licensed refinery and must have the required shape and weight in addition to being imprinted with its weight and purity before being examined by an inspection firm. Finally, it must be dealt with certified specialized storage companies and shipping companies. As long as it is gold bullion recognized as a Good Delivery Bar, it is actually equivalent to meeting the world standard and has a high degree of credibility in global circulation.※ One of the three main markets in the world, the London market is where spot gold trading takes place. In this niche market, the LBMA is in charge of keeping an eye on the purity of gold and silver. In addition to establishing the guidelines for gold trading on the London market, the LBMA also accredits reputable dissolvers and other parties.
Tokyo Commodity Exchange
The Tokyo Commodity Exchange Co. Ltd. was established to open up the trading futures commodity market. The English name of Tokyo Commodity Exchange is “Tokyo Commodity Exchange Inc.”, so it is also called TOCOM.
There is only one other public precious metal market in Japan, and that is the Tokyo Mercantile Exchange. Gold bullion managed by one of the few global brands has been approved as delivery product for futures transactions by the Tokyo Commodity Exchange under strict guidelines. A spot market for gold was launched in July 2016 in addition to the gold futures market attention.
Production Method of Bars
Japan has mined a large amount of gold since the Edo and Meiji eras. But now that the cheap gold has been mined, most of the mines have been shut down. Making gold nuggets from waste is an additional method, in addition to mining.
There are several methods of making gold nuggets from waste as following:
Recycle
They are also referred to as “urban mines” because the waste components, such as semiconductors in smartphones and computers, are rich in gold. This method allows us to reuse and recycle gold. Additionally, gold can be recycled from materials like scrap metal and industrial waste.
Revert to solid after dissolution
Aqua regia will first be used to dissolve the recycled gold. A difficult metal to dissolve is gold. Without this potent acid, it cannot be dissolved. But gold can be easily restored to its solid state. As long as it can obtain electrons, gold can be converted back into a solid powder after being dissolved in a liquid as gold ions.
Filter & Dry
The gold crystal powder is then separated from other substances by filtering the solution. Gold powder with a purity of more than 99% can be obtained because the other ingredients that were used at this time are separated. After drying, a brown gold powder can be produced.
Dissolve again & Revert
The gold must be dissolved in aqua regia and then solidified with a reducing agent in order to further increase purity. These procedures result in the production of a bright brown dry gold powder. This gold powder is 99.99% pure or higher and is referred to as “refined gold.”
Turn gold powder into gold particles
Prior to reaching 1064 degrees Celsius, gold does not melt. At a high temperature above its melting point, the gold powder is heated to melt. The molten gold can then be quickly cooled with a lot of water, which will cause the gold to solidify once more. The molten gold will solidify in this manner into gold grains that are several millimeters in size. Thus, the brown gold that was originally powdered has finally changed back to the color of gold.
Make Gold Nugget
After being obtained, the golden particles are melted at a high temperature of more than 1000 degrees Celsius. It can be poured into a mold to create a block after melting into liquid gold, and the gold block is finished after cooling. Using the aforementioned techniques, “Five-nines,” or gold with a purity of up to 99.999%, can be acquired.Inspection, casting
The top of the gold bullion will be stamped after it has been cast in order to guarantee its quality and circulation in the market. It will be marked with the foundry logo (recognized by the London Gold Market) and quality stamps after the weight has been verified. This completes the gold bullion the brand guarantees.
Casting of gold bullion
The gold bullion is stamped with a guarantee of quality rather than having a guaranteed certificate to guarantee the quality. In other words, the quality of the gold bullion itself is guaranteed. The following information is contained in the gold bullion’s imprint:
1. TrademarkThe gold bullion manufacturer’s logo is engraved on the stamp. Only the industry that has passed the rigorous LBMA review and been certified is permitted to stamp the gold bullion with the approved mark.
2. Refining and analyzing signsThe gold bullion is also stamped with a refiner (Melter) This is the Assayer’s logo. Assayer and Melter logos are other names for these. Sometimes only one logo is used to indicate if refining and inspection are performed by the same company; if the brand manufacturer is in charge of refining and inspection, the procedure of the logo will be omitted.
3. Indicates qualityThe gold bullion has a quality assurance stamp on it. Quality is equivalent to purity, and purity displayed by weight ratio is equivalent to purity. “999.9” will be imprinted at a rate of 1,000 if the purity is greater than 99.99%. “Four-nines” is another name for this sign.
4. Indicates materialGold bullion will be marked with “GOLD”, and pure gold will be stamped into indicate that it is “FINE GOLD”.
5. Indicates weightThe cast mark indicates the weight of the entire gold bullion. For example, if the gold bullion is 500 grams, it will be imprinted “500g”.
6. Manufacture numberA manufacturing number (serial number) is cast and imprinted on the gold bar, and each gold bar has its own manufacturing number, and there will never be gold bullions with duplicate numbers.
7. The size of the bullionThere are various bullion weights are available. Gold bullion is available in weights of 5 grams, 10 grams, 20 grams, 50 grams, 100 grams, 200 grams, 300 grams, 500 grams, and 1000 grams. The 1,000-gram gold bar is roughly the same size as a smartphone and has a similar shape. However, each brand’s bullion has a unique shape. The length, width, and thickness of each brand vary slightly even though their weight is the same. The extra-large gold bullion, also known as “Large Bar,” weighs about 12.5 kilograms and is kept in financial institutions like the Bank of England. The form resembles a trapezoidal gold bar that is frequently seen in movies.
Japanese domestic brand
Gold bullion can be purchased from the following domestic Japanese brands.
• TANAKA Precious Metals
• Tokuriki Honten Co.
• ISHIFUKU Metal Industry Co. Ltd.
• Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd.
• Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (MMC)
• JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation
• Mitsui & Co. Ltd.
• Sumitomo Corporation
• Sanki Shouji
• Asahi Pretec
TANAKA Precious Metals, Tokuriki Honten Co., ISHIFUKU Metal Industry Co. Ltd. , Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. Ltd., Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (MMC), JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation, Mitsui & Co. Ltd. , Sumitomo Corporation and Sanki Shouji are familiar trader. Asahi Pretec is a metal recycling company. It can also be purchased from a bank. It is recommended to buy these gold bullions with reputable brands.
Foreign Brands
There are also many trusted brands abroad.
United Kingdom
• Johnson Matthey ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
• Engelhard ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
• Engelhard-CLAL ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
Switzerland
• Argor S.A.( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
• Argor-Heraeus S.A. ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
• Valcambi S.A. ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
• Metalor ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
• PAMP ( Precious Metal Manufacturer
• Swiss Bank (Finance , Banker )
• Credit Suisse (Finance , Banker )
Germany
• Degussa ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
Australia
• Golden West Refining ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
• AGR Matthey ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
• Perth Mint（Mint）
Canada
• Royal Canadian Mint ( Mint )
France
• Comptoir Lyon Alemand Louyot ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
Korea
• LG Metals ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
South Africa
• Rand Refinery ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
Uzbek
• Navoi Mining and Metallurgical complex ( Precious Metal Manufacturer )
How to buy & store gold bullion
We have plenty of ways to purchase gold bullion. There is occasionally a handling charge known as a “Bar Charge” that must be paid when purchasing gold bullion weighing less than 500 grams. As a result, many people will purchase gold bullion over 1,000 grams, but they also need to carefully consider their storage options.
Direct purchase
Direct purchases of gold bullion are available at precious metals shops, land brokers, traders, refineries, banks, and other establishments. Additionally, it can be bought and sold online. Additionally, there are fake gold bars for sale, so only purchase from reputable merchants or refiners that are certified by the LBMA. Even though many people store the gold bullion they purchased in their personal vaults, theft is a possibility. It is advised that you ask a custodian to keep it on your behalf as a result. Additionally, you can use the safes that banks loan out, or some vendors may offer safekeeping services.
Gold Passbook
If you purchase gold bullion using a gold passbook, the seller will automatically keep it. In Japan, it is typically kept in “specified custody” or “consumption entrust.” Each storage technique has pros and cons of its own.
Specific custody
This service requests that the custodian hold onto the bought gold bullion. The gold bullion that was given to the custodian for safekeeping can be retrieved even if they file for bankruptcy.
Consumption Entrust
The gold bullion entrusted for custody under this method may occasionally be lost if the custodian goes bankrupt because this method transfers ownership to the custodian. But encouraging the industry to use gold wisely and reap the rewards is comparatively doable. It is advised to use specific custody if you want to keep your assets safe; however, consumption entrust is advised if you want to take risks in order to gain from investments.
There are fake gold bullion on the market
Since pure gold makes of gold bullion, the raw material itself is very valuable. As a result, there are also fake gold bars available on the market, causing the need for greater caution. A popular counterfeit item on the market is a gold shell with fake imprints made of tungsten, which has a similar specific gravity to gold. Fakes that have gold plating on alloys like copper, nickel, and zinc are also available. It might be a fake if you notice that “it is much lighter than gold,” “the stamping is not the same as the real product,” or “the stamping is a little off-center and unnatural.” Even gold bullion can deform because gold is an easily deformable substance. However, if something appears too artificial, be sure to question whether it is real. The crystal structure of gold can also be examined using X-rays to confirm its authenticity. Additionally, nitric acid will not cause gold to react, despite the fact that it will dissolve in aqua regia. Utilizing this characteristic, we can also apply nitric acid to it to observe the reaction. It will alter color if it is made of a metal other than gold.
