Introduction to Silver Bars

Silver bars, also known as ‘bullions’ are a standard in silver investment today. They come in a couple of sizes and weights, are .999 pure and are stamped with the brand of the company that created the bar. Silver bars can be purchased in many different places, though online shipping is fairly popular today since you can compare and contrast prices and get silver from any company you prefer with ease.

Sizes and Weights of Silver Bars

Silver bars come in two weights: 10oz and 100oz and they can be poured into molds. (they can also come in 1oz and 5oz bars, though this is less common). The bars themselves tend to be fairly uniform in shape; they are rectangular with rounded edges and are stamped. Generally speaking, larger bars are purchased by die hard collectors and investors because they are easier to keep track of while smaller bars are scooped up by small time collectors or newcomers to the trade.

The thing about silver (and other precious metals) is that when we say ‘ounces’, what we actually mean is Troy Ounces. Troy ounces are a measurement for precious metals and they are slightly larger than regular ounces. So when you get a 10oz bar, you are getting a 10 troy ounce bar which is the equivalent of 10.9714oz. It’s not a huge difference, but there it is.

Silver Bars in Investing

While silver is a common investment vehicle, most serious investors don’t bother with silver bars since they are just too impractical to ship around! However, small time investors and collectors may buy silver bars not only for resale value, but also as a curio and point of pride as well as investment. Silver bars are also a tangible source of your investment which makes some people happier since they can actually see, feel and store their investment instead of worrying about papers and certificates.

If you are looking to buy a silver bar or add to your silver collection, they can be purchased from banks, online sellers and other financial institutions with relative ease. They can be shipped overseas or you can just get them taken to your bank and stored or take it/them home and enjoy them or store them under your own power. Once you own them, you can keep them and resell them later one when the price of silver is higher through online sites or back to your bank if they allow for that.

Silver bars are a good way to begin investing in silver as they are a common vehicle and because they are affordable and standardized. You can also find them in many different places, so it’s not hard to get into this form of collecting and investing. If you are new to precious metal investing and collecting, silver bars are a good place to start. (Please check out some of our other articles that show how to sell silver bars and where to buy silver bars, etc)

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