Best Silver Bar to Buy

New investors have quite a bit on their plates. In addition to figuring out which precious metal they want to invest in, investors who settle on silver bars also need to decide which silver bar is best to buy. This can be a complicated process; the bullion sector is full of strange terminology and confusing lingo. With thousands of silver bullion bars on the market, it’s hard to know which silver bars are worth your money – and which are just a waste. 

Today, Hero Bullion’s Bullion Academy will walk you through everything you need to know to figure out the best silver bar to buy for your investment needs. Before spending money on a new silver bar, considerations like the purity of the bullion product, the reputation of the refiner, and the numismatic value of your bar need to be taken into account. 

Popular Types of Silver Bars

There are hundreds of silver bars on the bullion market, but what is the best silver bar to buy? In this section, we’ll discuss how to identify the most popular silver bars.

Advantages and Versatility 

All silver bars are highly versatile. Because silver bars are often minted in varying denominational increments, they might be more liquid for investors looking to sell their collection than coins or rounds. Silver bars also often the lowest premium over spot of any silver product; expect to pay quite a bit less per ounce of silver when you choose to invest in bars over rounds, coins, or other pure silver products. 

Notable Refiners and Brands

With a few notable exceptions, the most notable refiners of the best silver bar to buy are usually going to be the same mints responsible for world-famous silver coins. The Royal Canadian Mint, The Royal British Mint, and a few other major power players in the silver industry craft beautiful, highly pure silver bars for purchase. Some mints that are not known for their coins, such as Asahi, Valcambi, and Johnson Matthey are exceptional choices for the best silver bar to buy. 

10 Oz and 100 Oz Silver Bars

If you’re interested in taking advantage of the low premium costs of silver bars to stack a large quantity of pure silver bullion, a 10 and 100 oz variant might be the best silver bar to buy for you. 

Benefits for Investors and Collectors

Purchasing large silver bars weighing 10 troy ounces or more can radically cut down on the premium you pay over spot for pure silver. Asahi may offer some collectors the best silver bar to buy in bulk with their Asahi 10 oz Silver Bar. These bars are relatively easy to sell, and their low premiums make them excellent additions to any bullion collector’s silver investment portfolio. When you work with a mint like Asahi, you get an incredibly detailed obverse/reverse design paired with a history of excellence from the refiner itself. 

What is the best weight for a silver bar? This depends on your personal investment objectives. If you’re on a low budget, smaller bars are for you. But investors who want to get as much silver for the lowest spot price possible should consider 10 or 100 oz silver bars. 

Renowned Refiners and Assayers

We always recommend that investors who want the best silver bar to buy do business primarily with the most respected refiners and assayers. Famous mints like the Royal Mint and the Canadian Royal Mint are always solid choices. But collectors who really want the best silver has to offer should research to find a few of the lesser-known but highly respected refiners. Nadir is a good example of an underrated silver bar refiner; their Nadir 10 oz silver bar is intricately designed and tends to be a favorite of high-volume investors. 

Silver Rounds and Specialty Bars

While silver rounds aren’t quite the same as bars, they’re still worth considering for investors on a search for the best silver bar to buy. Rounds also offer high purity silver for a lower spot price than most silver coins. 

Unique Designs and Collectability 

Specialty bars are usually made using distinct, special striking processes. A bar is considered a specialty if it is the thing a mint is specially known for. Some specialty silver bars include patented 3-D design technology, unique artistic depictions on the obverse and reverse, or another unique refining process. These bars are highly collectible and can be exceptional investments for consumers willing to wait for numismatic value to rise over time. Sometimes, the best silver bar to buy might be one that nobody else is willing to gamble on! 

Limited Edition and Commemorative Bars

Occasionally, famous mints produce commemorative silver bars to celebrate important events or moments in the history of their country. Commemorative and limited edition bars are minted in small batches and are generally not given a second run, making them extremely rare. Some investors will pay high premiums for commemorative silver bars from the past. 

What is the best silver bar investment? Not all commemorative silver bars appreciate significantly in value, so it’s important that investors do their research before deciding a commemorative bar is the best silver bar to buy for their investment needs. Some investors prefer commemorative bars with high numismatic value, but others like to invest in pure silver without paying an extra premium. 

Factors to Consider When Buying Silver Bars

Never go into the buying process blind. Silver investors should spend substantial time and effort while researching the best silver bar to buy. In this section, we’ll cover some of the main things you should consider before buying any silver bar. 

Purity and Assay Certification

Fire assay is a test used to determine the purity of a silver, gold, or platinum product. Mints use the assay test to ensure that their silver products are the highest possible purity, and many refiners include an assay certificate with their silver bars. This document is important, as it allows buyers and sellers to guarantee the purity of their bullion product. Before you decide on which product is the best silver bar to buy, make sure your dealer provides an assay certificate with your order.

Understanding Silver Purity Levels

For silver bars, purity generally goes up to .999 pure. The purity in a silver bar is the percentage of the bar that is composed of its precious metal, and the number is usually represented as a decimal. .999 silver, for example, is 99.9% pure. Some silver bars are 92.5% pure, or .925. For the most part, Hero Bullion sells .999 silver bars, as they offer the highest possible amount of silver for your money. 

Importance of Assay Certificates

An assay certificate is extremely important, especially if you plan to sell your investment in the future. To potential buyers, an assay certificate means trust. Without one, it’s hard to be sure that they’re holding a .999 pure silver bullion bar in their hands. Like you, your future secondary market buyers want to make sure they’ve found the best silver bar to buy, and this means providing an assurance that the item is as pure as you claim. 

Make sure to inquire about an assay certificate whenever you do business with a new refinery or precious metal dealer. 

Reputation and Trustworthiness of Refiners

The reputation of your refiner is extremely important. In addition to improving buyer-seller trust, a high reputation helps to secure the long-term value of your investment. Future buyers are much likelier to purchase your silver bar if it comes stamped with the logo of a mint they trust. 

Researching Established Refiners

Learning to find the right established refiner with the best silver bar to buy is a skill that new investors need to learn. Read up on customer reviews, testimonials from long-term investors, and other refiner evaluation tools before starting a new relationship with a refiner. While it’s easy to trust big names like the Royal Mint or the U.S. Mint, we recommend taking some time to familiarize yourself with the hidden gems of the silver bar market. “How do I choose silver bars?” This is a common question, and one that you can answer by carefully evaluating your investment goals and preferences. 

Checking for Authenticity and Quality

Even if you’re buying a Canadian Royal Mint Silver Bar from an established bullion dealer, it’s important to verify the authenticity and quality of your silver bar. Look for markings or errors on both sides of the bar to make sure you’re not getting a counterfeit, and always request an assay card with your purchase if the company provides one. What is the best quality silver to buy? The key to finding the highest quality silver bar is to closely check for authenticity. 

Premiums and Pricing 

The good news is that even the very best silver bar to buy likely comes with an extremely small premium over spot. This section will briefly cover the total cost of silver bars. 

Spot Price Vs. Premiums 

Spot price is what we use to measure the current value of silver. It’s typically quoted in troy ounces and can fluctuate wildly. Investors should track the spot price of silver over time to decide if it’s the right time to invest. But spot price isn’t the only thing you pay for a quality silver product; most silver items come with an additional cost on top of spot referred to as a ‘premium.’

Luckily, premiums over spot for silver bars are generally very low. You can expect to pay close to the spot price of silver for your silver bar. 

Calculating Total Costs

The total cost of any silver bar is determined by multiplying the spot price of silver by its weight and then adding the premium cost on top. Most reputable silver dealers should display the total price of their bullion item on the product’s page – avoid doing business with companies that try to hide their premium costs. For the best silver bar to buy on a budget, look to find a price that’s as close to spot as possible. 

Tips for Buying Silver Bars

If you’ve done your research and know that silver bars have a place in your expanding bullion portfolio, it’s time to start watching the market. Buying blindly is never a good idea, but we’ve got your back with some tips on how to track the silver market to find the best silver bar to buy and the best time to invest. 

Market Research and Timing

Smart investment is all about timing, whether you’re buying 100 ounces of silver or $1,000 in Apple Stock. Silver has always been a relatively volatile market, especially compared to the consistency of other precious metals, such as gold. You’ll want to watch silver news closely and look for signs of increased industrial demand, climbing public interest, or dips in overall silver supply. 

Tracking Silver Prices

Hero Bullion makes it easy for investors to track the current spot price of silver. Even the best silver bar to buy isn’t a good investment if the market is in a bad spot. You never want to buy high and sell low, after all! Watch the price of silver over time, and pay careful attention to dips. When the value of silver declines, it may be the perfect time to invest in silver bars for quick – or long term – profit. 

Capitalizing on Market Fluctuations

Seasoned investors might even develop enough skill to recognize when the charts suggest that silver might be making a quick move in either direction. If you plan on profiting from fluctuations in the spot price of silver, what is the best silver bar to buy? We recommend going with high purity bars with minimal numismatic value. If you invest in these cost-effective bars, positive spot price appreciation of silver results in maximal direct profit. 

Storage and Security 

If you buy a great silver bar, you never want to lose your investment because of poor, unsafe storage. 

Safeguarding Your Silver Bars

Once your collection of beautiful silver bars continues to grow, we recommend buying additional homeowner’s insurance to protect your investments. While this does eat into your profits, it’s a small price to pay in order to avoid a total loss of investment value. After all, precious metals is part of your financial future, and securing your investment is paramount. 

A home safe is always a wise bet, and some investors actually prefer to purchase storage in the vault of their favorite bullion dealers. This method of safeguarding your silver bars offers an extra layer of protection against damage, theft, or disaster. 

Options for Secure Storage

Like we said above, many investors choose to store their precious metals in professional vaults belonging to their bullion dealers. For smaller investors with a collection of limited monetary value, just securing your silver bars in a temperature-controlled safe is probably a better budget option. 

Reselling and Liquidity

If you successfully purchase and safely store the best silver bar to buy, it’ll eventually be time to sell. The best silver bar to buy should also be easy to sell, but there are a few things you can do to make sure you get the most money possible for your investment. 

Understanding the Secondary Market

Smart investment experts closely watch the secondary market for the silver bars they purchase. Some silver bars sell for close to their silver melt value, meaning that the secondary market for these products is functionally an extension of the general silver bullion market. Other bars offer numismatic value that might increase over time, making the secondary market a bit more complicated. To judge the secondary market for your silver bar, take a look at what the bar sells for over a period of several years. Has its premiums on the aftermarket increased, decreased, or remained the same? 

Selling Your Silver Bars with Ease

After identifying the best silver bar to buy and carefully storing it for years, you’ll want to profit from your investment. A headache is the last thing any silver investor wants when it comes time to sell a silver bar. With the right amount of research into the market, you can sell your silver bars with ease. 

Final Thoughts: Best Silver Bar to Buy

What is the best silver bar to buy? The answer to this question depends primarily on your investment interests. With so many quality silver bars on the market, you have many choices. Silver bars with numismatic value, specialty bars from small mints, and simple but high-purity bars are all solid options for investors looking to expand their silver holdings with quality silver bullion bars. 

Do you have questions about the best silver bar to buy? Hero Bullion is always here to help you through the first-time buying process.