Coins vs. Rounds vs. Bars: What's the Difference?

If you're new to buying precious metals, the terminology can be confusing. Coins, rounds, and bars all contain gold or silver, but they're different products with different characteristics, premiums, and liquidity profiles. Here's a clear breakdown.

Coins

Coins are produced by government-operated mints and carry a face value denomination in the issuing country's currency. Examples include:

American Gold Eagle (U.S. Mint) — $50 face value
Canadian Silver Maple Leaf (Royal Canadian Mint) — $5 CAD face value
South African Gold Krugerrand (South African Mint) — No face value, but recognized as legal tender
Austrian Silver Philharmonic (Austrian Mint) — €1.50 face value

The face value is largely symbolic — nobody is spending a gold coin at a store for $50. But the legal tender status matters because it means the coin's weight, purity, and authenticity are guaranteed by a sovereign government.

Pros of coins:

Government-guaranteed weight and purity
Strong buyback premiums from dealers, especially for widely recognized sovereign coins (see liquidity section below)
Legal tender status adds a layer of trust and verifiability
Some coins qualify for inclusion in precious metals IRAs

Cons of coins:

Higher premiums than rounds or bars of equivalent size
Fractional sizes (1/10, 1/4, 1/2 oz) carry especially high per-ounce premiums

Rounds

Rounds look like coins but are produced by private mints rather than governments. They don't carry a face value and are not legal tender. Popular examples include Buffalo rounds, Walking Liberty rounds, and other designs produced by private refiners like SilverTowne, Sunshine Minting, and Asahi.

Pros of rounds:

Lower premiums than sovereign coins — you get more metal per dollar
Available in a wide range of sizes including fractional (1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz)
Same purity as coins (.999 or .9999 fine)
Wide variety of designs

Cons of rounds:

Less universally recognized than government coins
Buyback premiums are generally lower than coins
Not eligible for IRAs (in most cases)
No government guarantee of weight or purity — you rely on the private mint's reputation

Bars

Bars are rectangular ingots of refined metal, produced by both government and private mints. They range from 1 gram to 100 troy ounces (and beyond in the wholesale market). Major bar producers include Valcambi, PAMP Suisse, Royal Canadian Mint, Asahi, and many others.

Pros of bars:

Lowest premiums per ounce, especially in larger sizes (10 oz, kilo, 100 oz)
Efficient to store — they stack and fit neatly in safes
Sealed .9999 bars from LBMA Good Delivery brands (PAMP Suisse, Valcambi, Argor-Heraeus, Royal Canadian Mint, etc.) with original assay cards are among the most liquid gold products available — often more liquid than many sovereign coins
Some bars (from approved refiners) are IRA-eligible

Cons of bars:

Less divisible than coins — you can't break off a piece of a 100 oz bar
Bars from generic or lesser-known brands trade at wider spreads than LBMA-branded product
Large bars represent a significant single concentration of value
Opening or damaging assay card packaging reduces resale value

Which Should You Buy?

That depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

If liquidity and resale are your priority, stick to the products the dealer network trades most actively. The most liquid gold products in the current market are American Gold Eagles, American Gold Buffalos, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs (.9999 fine, BU condition), and sealed 1 oz .9999 bars from LBMA Good Delivery brands in their original assay cards. These can be verified instantly and sell quickly at the strongest buyback prices.

If you want the most metal for your money, buy bars or generic rounds. A 10 oz silver bar or a tube of Buffalo rounds will get you closer to spot price than a tube of American Silver Eagles. The trade-off is less liquidity on the back end.

If you want flexibility and divisibility, consider fractional sizes or a mix. Having some 1/10 oz gold coins alongside a few 1 oz bars gives you options for partial liquidation without selling everything.

If you're buying for an IRA, check eligibility requirements. Generally, only coins and bars meeting specific fineness standards from approved mints qualify. Rounds typically do not.

A Note on Liquidity: Not All Sovereign Coins Are Created Equal

Many buyers assume that any sovereign gold coin is equally liquid. That's not the case — especially in today's market.

The products that trade most efficiently share a combination of strong market recognition, standard weight (exactly one troy ounce of fine gold content), and high purity. But recognition matters enormously. The American Gold Eagle is .9167 fine (22K) — not .9999 — yet it's arguably the single most liquid gold product in the United States because of its overwhelming market dominance and the U.S. Mint's guarantee. Every dealer in the country knows it on sight.

The top tier of liquidity in today's market:

American Gold Eagles — .9167 fine (22K), 1 oz fine gold content. The benchmark.
American Gold Buffalos — .9999 fine, 1 oz fine gold content.
Canadian Gold Maple Leafs — .9999 fine, 1 oz fine gold content, BU condition.
Sealed 1 oz .9999 bars from LBMA Good Delivery brands — PAMP Suisse, Valcambi, Argor-Heraeus, Royal Canadian Mint, etc., in original assay cards.

Below that tier, several well-known sovereign products have lower liquidity in the current environment because they're not .9999 fine, contain an odd amount of fine gold (not a round number of troy ounces), or both:

South African Krugerrands — .9167 fine (22K), containing 1 oz of fine gold. Same purity as the Eagle, but less dominant in the US dealer network. Buyback spreads tend to be wider.
Mexican Gold Pesos (50 Peso, 20 Peso, etc.) — .900 fine, odd fine gold content (e.g., the 50 Peso contains 1.2057 oz of fine gold).
British Gold Sovereigns — .9167 fine, approximately 0.2354 oz of fine gold. A well-known coin globally, but the fractional and non-standard weight limits US liquidity.
Pre-1933 U.S. gold coins ($20, $10, $5, etc.) — .900 fine, odd fractional gold content (e.g., a $20 Saint-Gaudens contains 0.9675 oz of fine gold).

These are all legitimate gold products, and dealers will buy them. But they typically command lower buyback premiums and may take longer to resell than an Eagle, a Buffalo, or a sealed PAMP bar.

Below the sovereign tier, anything that is not from a sovereign mint or LBMA Good Delivery refiner generally trades at a further discount. Generic rounds from lesser-known private mints, while often priced attractively on the buy side, will see the widest spread when you sell.

Verifying What You Buy

Whether you're buying from us or evaluating a purchase from elsewhere, Florida Gold Exchange offers complimentary authentication at pickup. Our primary verification tools include the Sigma Metalytics PMV Pro and the Niton XRF Precious Metals Analyzer, which provide non-destructive testing on coins, bars, and rounds without removing them from packaging.

Browse Our Selection

Florida Gold Exchange carries coins, rounds, and bars in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. Every product page shows live pricing based on the current spot market.