1 gram gold bar: what it costs and whether it is worth it

The 1 gram bar is the smallest gold bar most mints make, and the most searched-for. It is affordable, easy to give as a present and fun to own. It is also the most expensive way to buy gold per gram. This page puts real numbers on that trade-off: what a 1 g bar measures, its live gold value, the prices five dealers charged on 12 October 2026, how the cost per gram falls as bars get bigger, and when a 1 g bar (or a snap-apart CombiBar) still makes sense.

How big is a 1 gram gold bar?

Smaller than a postage stamp. Gold is so dense that one gram makes a sliver about the size of a fingernail, which is why mints seal 1 g bars inside a card or blister pack. These are the dimensions the makers publish on their own product pages.

The Perth Mint gives a minimum gross weight of 1.00 g and maximum dimensions within its tolerances. The Royal Mint does not publish thickness. All 1 g bars contain 0.0322 troy oz of gold; see gold bar sizes for every weight side by side.

What is a 1 gram gold bar worth today?

The gold inside is worth one gram's share of the spot price, the live wholesale price of gold. That figure moves every minute and is the floor of any bar's value.

Spot-based melt values, not dealer prices. Last updated: Loading.

What did 1 gram gold bars cost on 12 October 2026?

A premium is the amount you pay above the gold value. Our automated check read the single-bar price (quantity one, cheapest payment method) on each dealer's product page between 06:27 and 06:33 UTC on Monday 12 October 2026, and compared it with the gold-api.com spot price at that moment.

Spot used: US$4,183.30, £3,162.16, C$5,964.19 and A$5,995.09 per troy ounce (gold-api.com). Premium = price / (grams x spot per gram) - 1. Dealers' own spot feeds can differ slightly. More dated checks: premium tracker.

The spread is wide. The same gram of gold cost a quarter more at one shop and nearly half as much again at another. Branded, sealed bars from a national mint cost the most; "best value" bars, where the dealer picks the refiner, cost the least. The Royal Mint's price falls with volume (£143.32 each for 50 or more), which hints at how much of a single bar's price is handling cost. Our explainer on gold premiums breaks down where that money goes.

Check 1 g bars at Gold Stock Canada

How much more per gram does a 1 g bar cost than a bigger bar?

The clearest way to see it is one maker's full price list. The Perth Mint sells its Kangaroo minted bars in eight sizes, all 99.99% gold, and we captured the whole list in the same minute. The metric sizes are below.

Moving from 1 g to 5 g cuts the premium by about two thirds. After about 20 g the savings flatten out. Put another way, ten 1 g bars from the Perth Mint cost A$2,376.30, while one 10 g bar cost A$2,048.32: A$327.98 more for the same gold. If you want ten grams, buying ten single grams is the most expensive way to get them.

Is a CombiBar the cheap way to own 1 g pieces?

Often, yes. Valcambi, a Swiss refiner, makes the CombiBar: a thin bar scored with guides so that it snaps cleanly into individual 1 g pieces, sold as 50 x 1 g or 100 x 1 g. APMEX describes its loose 1 g Valcambi bars as breakaways from the CombiBar. On 12 October 2026 APMEX listed the sealed 50 x 1 g CombiBar at US$7,097.42 by wire, a 5.49% premium or US$141.95 per gram. A loose 1 g piece of the same bar cost US$179.15. Keeping the CombiBar whole and breaking off pieces only when needed (for a gift, say) costs about 21% less per gram. Once snapped off, though, a piece is a loose bar with no assay card. More on the brand in our Valcambi bars guide.

Why are 1 gram gold bars so popular as gifts?

Price and presentation. A gram of gold is a real precious-metal gift at a cost most people can manage, and mints package it well. Many 1 g bars are made with themed designs aimed at gift buyers, and these cost more again. On 12 October 2026 the Royal Mint sold a Kaaba 1 g minted bar at £165.00, against £146.65 for the standard Britannia. The Perth Mint listed a Lakshmi 1 g bar at A$242.63, A$5 above its Kangaroo. At APMEX, a PAMP Suisse Lucky Pig 1 g bar was US$255.16 and a PAMP Lady Fortuna Veriscan 1 g bar US$205.16, compared with US$179.15 for the plain Valcambi piece. If the bar is a present, a design premium may be worth paying. If it is for saving, a plain bar keeps more of your money in gold.

Who is a 1 gram gold bar right for?

• Good fit: gifts for birthdays, christenings, weddings and religious festivals, where the bar's look and card matter as much as the gold.
• Good fit: first-time buyers who want to test a dealer's ordering, delivery and packaging before spending more.
• Good fit: people who want gold they can break into tiny units, via a CombiBar rather than single bars.
• Poor fit: anyone aiming to hold gold at the lowest cost. A 10 g bar or larger carries a far smaller premium, and our best gold bars to buy shortlist focuses on value.

Is a 1 gram gold bar taxed in the US, UK, Canada and Australia?

Size makes no difference to these rules; purity does. Gains are a separate question: in the UK a bar is not exempt from Capital Gains Tax (unlike Britannia and Sovereign coins), though gains on a single gram will almost never reach the annual exempt amount. Country detail is in where to buy gold in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia.

How do you check, store and sell a 1 gram bar?

1. Keep it sealed. The card or blister links the bar to its serial number and proves it has not been swapped. Read what an assay card is.
2. Check the details against the maker's page: for example 14.9 x 9.15 mm for a Royal Mint Britannia 1 g. A fake of the right size is hard to make at the right weight. See how to tell if gold is real.
3. Store it somewhere sensible. It is tiny and easy to lose. A drawer safe is usually enough; our gold storage guide covers bigger holdings.
4. Know the sell-back price. On 12 October 2026 Hatton Garden Metals offered £97.61 for a 1 g bar, about 4% below spot. On 11 October it listed the same 4.27% discount for all bars from 1 g to 1 kg, so the extra premium on a small bar is simply lost. See selling gold bars.

All the 1 g bars we found were minted bars (stamped from a strip of gold); cast bars are made in larger sizes. Why that matters at larger sizes is covered in cast vs minted bars. For other weights and brands, browse all gold bar guides.

Not financial advice. GoldVetted provides general information to help you compare options. It is not personal financial, tax or legal advice. Gold prices go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you pay. Check tax rules with the official source or a qualified adviser before you act.