Bullion sizes: what’s the difference?

This is general information, not financial or investment advice.

Ainslie offers a variety of bullion sizes. The right size depends on your preferences, budget, and intended use.

Two key principles

Economies of scale
In general, larger bullion sizes have a lower price per ounce.
- Larger bars are more efficient to produce.
- Less handling, processing, and packaging is required per ounce of metal.
- This efficiency is reflected in lower premiums per ounce.
Diminishing marginal premium
As bar size increases, the premium reduction becomes smaller.
- Moving from a very small bar to a medium-sized bar can significantly reduce premiums.
- Moving from a large bar to an even larger bar often results in only marginal savings, as production effort becomes similar.

When choosing a size, consider the trade-off between premium and flexibility:

Larger bars
- Lower premiums per ounce
- Less flexible, cannot be easily sold in smaller portions
Smaller bars
- Higher premiums, especially at very small sizes
- Greater flexibility for partial sellbacks

Before choosing a bullion size, ask yourself:

Do I want the option to sell part of my holding without selling everything?
How often am I likely to sell in the future?
How much more metal can I get by choosing a larger size?
How much premium am I paying per ounce or kilogram at this size?
Is the reduction in premium worth the loss of flexibility?
How easy will this be to move or store?
Should I split my investment into few lots to store in different places to reduce risk?
Would this size still make sense if I needed to sell sooner than expected?

Important note: Our buyback rates are flat across all bar sizes, i.e. We do not pay higher buyback prices for smaller bars.

For many customers, the best balance between cost efficiency and flexibility is typically:

These sizes are often referred to as “sweet spots.”

They are considered sweet spots because:

Smaller sizes carry significantly higher premiums, reducing value.
Larger sizes offer diminishing returns, where premium savings per ounce become minimal.