Once you've decided to buy precious metal, the next fork arrives fast: coins or bars? It feels like a small detail. It isn't. The format shapes how much you pay over spot, how easily you can sell, how you store it, and how flexibly you can dip into your holdings later.

Bars are for accumulating wealth efficiently. Coins are for spending, gifting, and selling a piece at a time. Decide which problem you're solving and the answer picks itself.

The case for bars

Bars are the efficient choice when your priority is converting the maximum currency into the maximum metal. Because a plain bar is cheaper to manufacture than an intricate coin, the premium is lower — a 1oz gold bar often runs 2–4% over spot, and a 1kg bar can sit as low as 1–3%. The catch: a single large bar is all-or-nothing. You can't sell a third of a kilo bar. View our bar selection →

The case for coins

Coins cost a little more over spot and earn it back in flexibility and trust. A government-minted coin carries the backing of a sovereign mint, a guaranteed weight and purity, and a global reputation that makes it effortless to sell almost anywhere.

  • Divisibility. Ten 1oz coins let you sell in small slices as you need cash.
  • Liquidity. Sovereign coins are the most traded, most trusted bullion on the planet.
  • Gifting and legacy. A coin is a far more giftable object than a slab of metal.

The trade-off is cost: sovereign coins typically run 4–8% over spot. Browse gold and silver coins →

The strategy most experienced buyers use

You don't have to choose. A genuinely sensible approach is a barbell — hold the bulk of your value in larger bars for the efficient cost basis, then keep a layer of recognised one-ounce and fractional coins for flexibility. The bars do the heavy lifting of wealth storage while the coins give you options: a piece to sell in an emergency, a coin to gift, a small unit to spend.

Whichever you choose, buy recognised products from a transparent dealer with a buyback service. A no-name bar at a slightly lower premium is a false economy if it's awkward to sell. When you're ready, see the full gold range →