GOLD BARS MARKING: MANDATORY MARKING ON PRECIOUS METALS. By law, each gold bar, no matter the size or shape, must be mandatorily marked and serialized before being placed on the market. This is done for security, coding and traceability reasons.
All bars over 250g should have a serial number on them. This serial number helps an assay office authenticate the gold bullion. Generally, this serial number will be on your invoice, so it can be traced back to your dealer.
All gold bullions are marked with serial numbers and come with a certificate of authenticity to prevent counterfeit or stolen bullions. Larger, minted gold bars usually come with protective packaging and a security feature.
Your gold bar or piece of jewellery will be stamped with a number that shows the minimum gold content: Carat – Stamp – Percentage of pure gold. 22ct gold – 916 – 91.6%
The gold can be traced with the assurance of technology that will ensure that the gold bullion being exchanged is legitimate and clean gold. Even outside of tokenization, blockchain technology can still provide a compelling use case for tracking gold through RFID tags or other tracking systems.
Dot peen marking
This technology allows to mark ingots with maximum flexibility because of its software-driven and progressive electronic nature. Thanks to its' pneumatic and electric characteristic, the dot peen machine is useful and adaptable to different types of markings: deep, continuous or “light/superficial”.
If you're not a collector, selling the bar might be your best option for cashing in on your treasure find. Make sure to only work with a reputable dealer who will provide you with the best estimate of its value. If you decide to keep it, get an appraisal of its value that you can use for insurance purposes.
If it's real gold it will not stick to the magnet. (Fun fact: Real gold is not magnetic.) Fake gold, on the other hand, will stick to the magnet. If that necklace leaps to the magnet, your significant other has some explaining to do.
How to Do the Float Test to Check If Gold is Real. Fill a cup or bowl with water and carefully drop your gold piece into it. If the gold is real, it will sink to the bottom of the cup. If it's fake, it will float to the top or hover in the middle of the cup.
The weight, manufacturer and purity of each bar should be stamped on the front of it. You can expect genuine gold bars to have registered serial numbers you can use to verify their authenticity. Both government mints as well as private mints operate refineries that produce gold bars.
That 0.01 part of the metal is typically copper or silver in a bullion coin, and in some cases these tiny particles can react to oxygen or other chemicals – causing a rust spot when located on the surface of a coin or bar. An example of a red spot or rust spot, as discovered by our own Vault team.
If you have gold bars or other precious metals with no official marking or number on their surface, you should consider seeking authentication from an expert. For example, you may want to test your bullion for gold fineness, purity, weight, etc.
Scratch test.
If you cut deep enough that you expose underlying metal, you can assume that it is plated. If it appears to be made of a uniform composition throughout, then it is probably solid gold.
Your finds
Minerals are the property of the Crown. If you discover gold or other minerals or gemstones on land not covered by a mining tenement, and the ground is Crown land (under the Mining Act 1978), then you are free to keep what you have found (as long as you hold a Miner's Right).
Most gold buyers will buy your scrap gold at 60-80% of the current gold market price to cover their melting and refining costs and their profit. Alternatively, you can use our scrap gold calculator to get estimated values.
Some also own gold bullion (bars or ingots). All these forms can be sold for cash.
The 1 kilo gold bar is an atypical size of gold bar. A common question is how many ounces or grams is included in a single kilo. The answer is a 1 kilo gold bar has 32.15 ounces of gold or 1000 grams. The advantage of the 1 kilo gold bar is that you get a larger quantity of gold for a lower premium above spot price.
PAMP 1 Gram Fortuna Gold Bar Veriscan is 24 carat (999.9 gold). Dimensions (mm) 14.70 x 8.90 x 0.40.
You have many options for selling your gold, but the transactions may not be anonymous. At the minimum, some of your personal information may be reported to the IRS if you sell gold as defined in the IRS's Reportable Items list.