Why does a small bar cost more per ounce than a large one?

The refiner's cost to strike, assay and card a bar is roughly the same whatever its weight, so that fixed cost is a bigger share of a 1 g bar than of a 1 oz bar. If you are buying by the ounce, larger bars carry the lowest premium; if you want to be able to sell in small pieces later, fractional bars are what you pay the premium for.

What is the assay card, and should I open it?

The sealed card is the refiner's certificate: it carries the bar's serial number, weight and fineness, and the bar is verified without ever being taken out. Leave it sealed. A bar still in its card sells back faster and for more than a loose one.

Which refiners do you carry?

Mostly PAMP Suisse and Argor-Heraeus — both LBMA Good Delivery refiners — plus other LBMA-listed names as they come through the case. The Vault shows what is in stock today.

Can you get a size you don't have in the case?

Usually. Call with what you are after and the counter will tell you what it can source and when. Larger orders are easier to arrange as a private appointment.

Buy · bars

Gold and silver bars, sealed in the card.

A bar is the plainest way to own metal — and the lowest-premium way to hold an ounce of money that nobody can print: a stated weight of a stated fineness from a refiner whose mark the whole market recognizes. The counter in Madison Heights keeps carded gold bars from gram to ounce and .999 silver bars by the piece, priced off the live spot with the premium quoted before you buy.

Every bar is checked for authenticity and weighed in front of you, still sealed in its assay card — the card is the certificate, and it stays closed.

Bars in the case now Call (248) 247-9240

What to look for

Refiner, fineness, serial, seal.

Four things make a bar worth its premium, and all four are checked at the counter before it changes hands. When you come to sell it back — here or anywhere — those same four things are what the buyer will want to see, which is why we tell you to keep the card sealed and the receipt with it.

Gold bars run from 1 g to 1 oz in the case; silver from 1 oz rounds and bars up to the heavier pieces as they come in. Kilo and larger orders are sourced to order.

An LBMA Good Delivery refiner's mark — PAMP, Argor-Heraeus, Valcambi, Perth Mint
Fineness stamped on the bar: .9999 gold, .999 silver
A serial number that matches the card
An intact, tamper-evident assay card
A weight on the scale that matches the card to the hundredth of a gram

Other ways to buy

Coins, IRA metal, and how the counter works.

Buying bars from

Oakland County

Macomb County

Wayne County

The Grosse Pointes

Straight answers

Questions people ask before they drive over

Why does a small bar cost more per ounce than a large one?: The refiner's cost to strike, assay and card a bar is roughly the same whatever its weight, so that fixed cost is a bigger share of a 1 g bar than of a 1 oz bar. If you are buying by the ounce, larger bars carry the lowest premium; if you want to be able to sell in small pieces later, fractional bars are what you pay the premium for.
What is the assay card, and should I open it?: The sealed card is the refiner's certificate: it carries the bar's serial number, weight and fineness, and the bar is verified without ever being taken out. Leave it sealed. A bar still in its card sells back faster and for more than a loose one.
Which refiners do you carry?: Mostly PAMP Suisse and Argor-Heraeus — both LBMA Good Delivery refiners — plus other LBMA-listed names as they come through the case. The Vault shows what is in stock today.
Can you get a size you don't have in the case?: Usually. Call with what you are after and the counter will tell you what it can source and when. Larger orders are easier to arrange as a private appointment.