Gold Bar Sizes Explained: 2g to 1kg

6 min read · Updated 16 August 2026

Gold bars are made in a standard ladder of sizes, and choosing between them is mostly a trade-off between cost efficiency and divisibility. Larger bars cost less per gram; smaller bars are easier to sell a piece at a time. This is what each size is actually for.

Why small bars cost more per gram

Producing a bar involves refining, assaying, stamping, sealing and packaging. Most of that cost barely changes with size — a 2 g bar takes almost as much handling as a 100 g bar. Spread across 2 g, that fixed cost is a large share of the price; spread across 1 kg it nearly disappears.

The practical consequence: if your goal is to hold a given value of gold, buying it in the largest bar you are comfortable with will get you meaningfully more metal than buying the same value in small bars. If your goal is flexibility, you are paying that difference for the ability to sell in pieces.

Minted vs cast

Minted bars are cut from rolled sheet and struck, giving sharp edges, a mirror finish and a sealed assay card. Cast bars are poured directly into a mould, so each one has a slightly different surface — visible pour lines, rounded edges, small imperfections. That variation is normal and not a defect.

Because casting is a simpler process, cast bars carry a lower premium for the same weight. Below about 50 g almost everything is minted; at 100 g and above you usually have a choice, and cast is the cheaper way to hold the same gold.

The 1 oz question

One troy ounce — 31.1035 g — is the unit the world quotes gold in, which makes 1 oz bars unusually liquid: any dealer anywhere recognises and prices them instantly. If you expect to sell outside Singapore, or want the least friction on exit, 1 oz is a strong default even though 50 g and 100 g bars are cheaper per gram.

Which size should you buy?

• Buying regularly in small amounts: 5 g or 10 g minted bars.
• One meaningful purchase, want easy resale anywhere: 1 oz.
• Building a position and comfortable selling in larger units: 100 g, cast where available.
• Holding long term, lowest cost per gram, no need to divide: 1 kg cast.
• Buying a gift: 2 g or 5 g minted, which come presentation-packaged.