Silver Bars

Silver Bar

A traditional way of investing in silver is by buying actual bullion bars. In some countries, like Switzerland and Liechtenstein, bullion bars can be bought or sold over the counter at major banks. In other countries, coin shops and jewelers buy and sell silver bullion. Another popular and reliable source of silver bullion is eBay. The price on eBay is determined by market forces and usually is a premium to the official spot price, never-the-less it is still very popular.

Physical silver, such as bars or coins, may be stored in a home safe, a safe deposit box at a bank, or placed in allocated (also known as non-fungible) or unallocated (fungible or pooled) storage with a bank or dealer.

Various sizes of silver bars:

1000 oz troy bars – These bars weigh about 68 pounds avoirdupois (31 kg) and vary about 10% as to weight, as bars range from 900 oz to about 1100 oz (28 to 34 kg). These are COMEX good delivery bars.

100 oz bars – These bars weigh 6.8 pounds (3.11 kg) and are among the most popular with retail investors. Popular brands are Engelhard and Johnson Matthey. Those brands cost a bit more, usually about 40-80 cents per ounce above the spot price, but that price may vary with market conditions.

Odd weight retail bars – These bars cost less and generally have a wider spread, due to the extra work it takes to calculate their value and the extra risk due to the lack of a good brand name.
1 kilogram bars (32.15 oz)
10 oz bars and 1 oz bars (311 and 31.1 g)