1 kg gold bar: price, size and the trade-offs of going big

The kilo bar is the largest gold bar most private buyers will ever handle. It is the size of a phone, weighs as much as a bag of sugar and, at October 2026 prices, holds roughly £100,000 or US$135,000 of gold. Buying gold in one block keeps the dealer's mark-up to a minimum. Selling it is where the trade-offs arrive. This page covers the dimensions refiners publish, the live value, the prices four dealers charged on 12 October 2026, why kilo bars are cast, and what to weigh up before putting this much money into one bar.

How big is a 1 kg gold bar?

Gold is much denser than lead, so a kilo makes a surprisingly small bar. Both national mints that publish a kilo bar specification make it as a cast bar, poured into a mould.

The Perth Mint quotes maximum dimensions within its tolerances; the Royal Mint does not publish thickness. For comparison, the 400 oz wholesale Good Delivery bar is about 12.4 kg; see Good Delivery gold and the full gold bar sizes table.

Measurements matter more for kilo bars than for any other size, because the sums involved make them a target for fakes. A tungsten-cored bar can match the weight, but matching weight, length, width and thickness together is very hard. When you buy, note the serial number and keep the certificate with the bar.

What is a 1 kg gold bar worth today?

Its gold value is 1,000 grams times the live spot price, the wholesale price of gold, which works out at 32.1507 troy ounces.

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

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

Our automated check read single-bar prices on dealers' product pages between 06:44 and 06:46 UTC on Monday 12 October 2026, at the cheapest payment method shown, and compared them with gold-api.com spot at that moment. The premium is the amount above gold value.

Spot used (gold-api.com): US$4,186.20, £3,163.24, C$5,968.13 per troy ounce. Premium = price / (1,000 g x spot per gram) - 1. APMEX states its own premium against its own spot feed, which read higher than gold-api.com that morning. Repeat checks: premium tracker.

Three of the four prices were within about 2% of gold value, which is as close to wholesale as retail buyers usually get. The US listing stands out: a branded Perth Mint kilo bar from a large online dealer cost about twice the premium of the UK bars. That shows why choosing a dealer matters as much as choosing a size. Gold Stock Canada's lower price came with a catch of its own: the refiner is not chosen by you. Our guide to gold premiums explains what drives these gaps.

Check the Royal Mint 1 kg cast bar

How much cheaper per gram is a kilo bar than smaller bars?

At a single maker, the saving from going big is clear but modest above 100 g. Here is the Perth Mint's cast bar range at 06:46 UTC, plus the Royal Mint's 100 g and 1 kg bars from the same morning.

Australian spot A$5,993.80 per oz; UK spot about £3,163 per oz. The Royal Mint 100 g price was read at 06:39 UTC.

At the Royal Mint, ten 100 g Britannia bars would have cost £107,170.80 against £103,656.38 for the kilo: £3,514.42 more for the same gold. The Perth Mint figures tell a gentler story, because its smaller cast bars are already cheap: from 1 oz to 10 oz the premium falls by less than one percentage point. The lesson is that the kilo's advantage is biggest when the alternative is minted, sealed bars.

Is a 1 kg gold bar harder to sell?

Finding a buyer is not the problem; flexibility is. Weigh these points before buying:

• No partial sales. If you need £10,000, you still have to sell £100,000 of gold. With ten 100 g bars you could sell one.
• Checks on resale. A buyer paying six figures may want to test a bar, especially if it has left a sealed chain of custody or lost its certificate. Keep both the certificate and the invoice.
• Same buyback rate as smaller bars. On 12 October 2026 Hatton Garden Metals offered £97,605.58 for a kilo bar, about 4% under spot, matching the 4.27% discount it listed for every bar from 1 g to 1 kg on 11 October. So the kilo's advantage comes almost entirely at purchase. Bought from the Royal Mint and sold to that dealer the same morning, a kilo would have lost £6,050.80, or 5.8%.
• US paperwork. IRS instructions for Form 1099-B make some dealer purchases of precious metals reportable when the quantity is enough to meet a futures contract approved by the CFTC (the US futures regulator). Ask the dealer whether your sale will be reported.

More on the selling side in selling gold bars and on bid-ask gaps in dealer spreads.

Why are kilo gold bars cast, not minted?

Minting means rolling gold into a strip, stamping a design and polishing, which adds cost but little value to a bar bought for its weight. Casting is cheaper and suits large bars, which is why both mints above make their kilo as a cast bar. Cast bars have a slightly rippled surface, stamped marks (refiner, weight, purity, serial number) and usually come with a certificate rather than a sealed card. If you are torn between the two styles at smaller sizes, see cast vs minted bars.

Who is a 1 kg gold bar right for?

A common approach is to mix a kilo with some smaller bars or coins. The best gold bars to buy guide compares brands, and the gold storage guide compares home safes and vaults.

How are kilo gold bars taxed in each country?

This is general information, not tax advice; at this size, professional advice is worth getting. Country guides: where to buy gold in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. To check a bar on arrival, see how to tell if gold is real, and browse all gold bar guides for other weights.

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.