A silver bar is a rectangular piece of silver with even thickness. Silver bars come in difference sizes but their weight are often standardised into these sizes, 1 oz silver bar; 5 oz silver bar; 10 oz silver bar; and 100 oz silver bar. Larger silver bar does exist but their weight is usually not standardised as with the smaller silver bars mentioned above.
Any mint can make silver bars since they don’t bear any legal currency. The value of the silver bar is largely determined by the silver bars silver content. Every silver bar is stamped with the mints hallmark, the purity of the silver contained in the silver bar, and the weight of the silver bar. This information is there to make it easier to evaluate the silver bar. The size and shape of silver bars make them easy to transport and store, reducing handling and storage cost for both buyer and seller.
The silver bar is the perfect format when selling silver to industry, and large investors and silver depositories. Industry rarely uses silver in its original format. It is usually melted down and used in components and alloys; dissolved in acid baths and used for silver plating; pressed and shaped into jewellery and other pure silver products; etc. Large investors and depositories are interested in getting as much silver for their money as possible, and to do this they buy silver in the format of a silver bar. In this way they can acquire silver with prices very close to the spot price. They also greatly reduce their associated cost with storage, handling, transportation, etc. since a large silver bar takes up less space; are easier to transport; and easier to handle, than several smaller silver bars or silver rounds/coins.
With a silver market that is growing day by day, more and more silver mines are turning their focus towards the private investor, who is now offered countless silver products from mines all over the world. Since the silver bar in most cases easily beats both the silver round and silver coins on price, this makes the silver bar an easy decision for many silver investors, but there are certain aspects of the silver bar you need to be aware of before buying, like e.g:
Silver bullion products, as the silver bar, is not tax exempt in the EU. A VAT of between 7% to 25% is added on all purchases of silver bullion products, making silver bars a very unattractive investment for EU’s 730 million citizens.
Since a silver bar can be made by any authorised mint, there are many “un-popular” silver bars on the market. Even though the price of these silver bars are seemingly low, bear in mind that they can have a very large spread and can be very hard to sell, making your investment very unprofitable.
Buying large silver bars can also seam like a good deal, due to the reduced premium, but if you cannot diversify your silver entry and exit, and rebalance your silver investments as planned, a large silver bar vs. several small ones, can prove to be the least profitable option.
