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Gold bullion bars make a great investment because you can often purchase them for a lower mark up over the current spot price of gold versus gold bullion coins which traditionally have a higher mark up. If you decide to purchase gold bullion bars, Credit Suisse bars (as pictured to the left) make a terrific investment. The primary reason is very simple: Credit Suisse is a trustworthy bank. You can rest assured that gold bars from Credit Suisse really do contain the stated weight and purity of gold.

How Does Credit Suisse Protect The Gold Investor

All gold bars from Credit Suisse and also other large institutions that sell a lot of bullion bars contain assay certificates. An assay certificate is a statement that verifies the gold content and purity of the bar. Each gold bar from Credit Suisse contains a serial number which may be matched up with the one on the accompanying assay certificate. My personal advice for the everyday gold investor is to always buy gold bars from very reputable institutions which provide assay certificates and serial numbers. Even better, opting to invest solely in highly liquid government backed gold coins such as the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is another very smart decision.

No Assay Certificate Means No Deal

Unless you are a very seasoned investor with proper means to assay (melt down) gold bars to test their true purity and weight, I recommend staying away from bars that do not come from Credit Suisse or another similar bank. Gold bars that do not contain assay certificates are risky because it is not easy to prove their gold content and weight. Gold buyers want to know for certain what they're getting into. I think there are deals to be had in buying gold bars that contain no certificate, but you need to really understand the process and have the ability to assay the bars to understand their true value. For the rest of us, I recommend sticking to government backed coins and bars from big banks.

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