How Much Does a Gold Bar Weigh? Sizes in Grams and Pounds

The short answer: it depends on the bar. Gold bars are made in sizes from 1 gram up to the large bars that banks and vaults trade, which hold between 350 and 430 troy ounces of gold and weigh about 27 pounds (12.4 kilograms) at the usual 400 ounces. The bars most people buy weigh 1 troy ounce (31.1 grams, a little over an ordinary ounce), 10 troy ounces (about 0.7 pounds) or 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds).

This page gives the weight of every common size in grams, troy ounces and everyday pounds and ounces, explains why a small gold bar feels so heavy, and shows how much gold a given sum of money buys at today's price.

Gold bar weights at a glance

"Ordinary weight" means avoirdupois ounces and pounds, the units on a kitchen or bathroom scale. The value of each size at today's price is in our guide to how much a gold bar is worth.

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Troy ounces vs ordinary ounces

Gold is weighed in troy ounces, an old unit kept by the precious metals trade. One troy ounce is 31.1035 grams. The ordinary (avoirdupois) ounce used for almost everything else is 28.35 grams, so a troy ounce is about 10% heavier.

That is why a "1 ounce" gold bar weighs 1.10 ounces on a kitchen scale, and a "10 ounce" bar weighs nearly 11.

The pound works the other way round. A troy pound, rarely used today, is 12 troy ounces, or 373 grams, which is lighter than the ordinary 453.6 gram pound. An ordinary pound of gold therefore contains 14.58 troy ounces. When a price is quoted per ounce, it is always per troy ounce.

The big bar: Good Delivery

The bar in films and bank vaults is the Good Delivery bar, named after the standard set by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) for gold traded in London. The LBMA's rules set its size:

• Gold content: at least 350 and at most 430 fine troy ounces, about 10.9 to 13.4 kilograms. Bars are usually close to 400 ounces.
• Purity: at least 995.0 parts per thousand, or 99.5% gold.
• Dimensions: about 250 mm long (plus or minus 40 mm), 70 mm wide (plus or minus 15 mm) and 35 mm high (plus or minus 10 mm) on top, with sloping sides. That is about 10 inches by 2.75 inches by 1.4 inches, roughly the shape of a house brick but smaller.
• Markings: a serial number, the refiner's stamp, the fineness and, for bars made since January 2019, the year and month of manufacture.

Because no two Good Delivery bars weigh exactly the same, each one has its own weight on record. The LBMA's example shows a bar with a gross weight of 401.125 troy ounces at a fineness of 995.8, which works out to 399.440 troy ounces of fine gold. The fine weight, not the gross weight, is what the bar is worth.

Why a small gold bar feels so heavy

Gold is one of the densest metals. The Royal Society of Chemistry lists its density as 19.3 grams per cubic centimeter, more than 19 times as heavy as the same volume of water. In practice:

• A 1 ounce bar has a volume of about 1.6 cubic centimeters. A minted one is usually a thin card of gold, smaller than a credit card and only a millimeter or two thick.
• A 1 kilogram bar has a volume of about 52 cubic centimeters (3.2 cubic inches), about half the volume of a deck of playing cards, yet weighs 2.2 pounds.
• A cubic inch of gold weighs about 316 grams, or roughly 10 troy ounces.
• A cubic foot of gold would weigh about 1,200 pounds.

These figures are worked out from the density and are for pure gold. Real bars vary in shape: a minted 1 ounce bar is thin and flat like a card, while a poured bar of the same weight is shorter and thicker.

How much gold your money buys, by weight

The table shows the weight of gold each sum buys at the current price, before any dealer premium, which reduces it a little. It updates with the gold price several times a day.

Gold packs a lot of value into very little weight. That is one reason it has been used to store wealth for so long, and why even a large holding fits in a small safe deposit box. It is also why a fake can be hard to spot by feel: our guide to gold bar scams explains how counterfeit bars imitate the weight of real ones, and how to check a bar.

How bar weight affects cost and resale

• Small bars (1 to 10 grams) cost the most per ounce, because making, testing and packaging a tiny bar costs nearly as much as a larger one.
• 1 ounce bars are the most common size and the easiest to price: one bar holds one ounce.
• Larger bars (10 ounce, 100 gram, 1 kilogram) cost less per ounce but have to be sold whole.
• Good Delivery bars are traded between banks and institutions and held in vaults, not sold to the public over a counter.

Buyers who want both a low cost per ounce and flexibility when selling often hold a mix of sizes.

Gold bars in an IRA

Gold bars can be held in an IRA if they meet the purity rule and are held by the IRA's trustee. Federal law allows gold bullion at least as fine as a regulated futures market requires for delivery, which in practice means 99.5% pure or better, stored at an approved depository rather than at home. A bar's weight is not restricted: an IRA can hold 1 ounce bars, kilo bars or anything in between. Our guide to gold IRA tax rules covers the details.

Buying gold bars

If you want to hold gold bars in a retirement account or have them delivered, choose a company that prices them clearly and explains the account before you buy.

• Augusta Precious Metals sells gold and silver for IRAs and for purchases with personal funds, explains the account before any sale, and has a $50,000 minimum. It is our first-ranked company.
• Goldco sells gold and silver bars and coins for IRAs and for direct purchase delivered to you.
• American Hartford Gold sells gold and silver bars and coins and ships insured to your door for a delivery order.

The full comparison is in our ranking and our guide to the best gold IRA companies. For the price over time, see the gold bullion price chart; for silver, see how much a silver bar is worth.

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FAQ

How much does a standard gold bar weigh?

The standard bar of the wholesale gold market, the Good Delivery bar, holds between 350 and 430 troy ounces of gold and usually about 400, which is about 12.4 kilograms or 27.4 pounds.

How much does a 1 ounce gold bar weigh?

One troy ounce, which is 31.1 grams or about 1.1 ordinary ounces.

How much does a kilo gold bar weigh in pounds?

A 1 kilogram bar weighs 2.2 pounds and holds 32.15 troy ounces of gold.

How much does a gold bar weigh in pounds?

From a fraction of an ounce for a gram bar to about 27 pounds for a 400 ounce Good Delivery bar. A 10 ounce bar weighs about 0.7 pounds and a kilo bar 2.2 pounds.

How big is a gold bar?

A Good Delivery bar is about 250 mm long, 70 mm wide and 35 mm high on top, according to the LBMA's rules. Retail bars vary by maker; a minted 1 ounce bar is usually smaller than a credit card and a millimeter or two thick.

How many ounces are in a gold bar?

A Good Delivery bar holds 350 to 430 troy ounces, usually about 400. Retail bars are sold by stated weight, such as 1, 10 or 32.15 troy ounces (1 kilogram).

Why is gold so heavy?

Gold has a density of 19.3 grams per cubic centimeter, more than 19 times that of water, so a small volume of gold weighs a lot.

Is a troy ounce heavier than a regular ounce?

Yes. A troy ounce is 31.1 grams and an ordinary ounce is 28.35 grams, so a troy ounce is about 10% heavier.

Sources

• LBMA: Good Delivery Rules (2026) (gold bar weight 350 to 430 fine troy ounces, dimensions, minimum fineness 995.0, markings, and the weight-list example), read November 8, 2026
• Royal Society of Chemistry: gold (density 19.3 g/cm³), read November 8, 2026
• 26 U.S. Code § 408(m), Legal Information Institute (the IRA exception for bullion at the fineness a regulated futures market requires), read November 8, 2026
• Gold prices: COMEX gold futures (GC=F) daily closes from Yahoo Finance and the gold spot price from api.gold-api.com, refreshed automatically. Unit conversions use 1 troy ounce = 31.1035 grams and 1 pound = 453.592 grams; volumes are calculated from gold's density.

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