PAMP Suisse Gold Bullion Bars
PAMP Suisse gold bars - available in many sizes and with various artistic designs
Precious metal investors that buy gold bars won't find any mint that offers a larger variety of choices than PAMP Suisse. Privately owned and based in Switzerland, PAMP is one of the world's leading refiners of precious metals and has made a name for itself in the bullion market due to the exquisite craftsmanship of its bullion bars. The PAMP in its name stands for "Produits Artistiques Métaux Précieux" which is a fitting name since most types of PAMP Suisse gold bullion bars are adorned with artistic designs which are stamped into the bar with special dies. Perhaps the most common of these designs is the image of "Lady Fortuna".
All PAMP Suisse gold bars are produced at its state-of-the-art refinery in Switzerland out of 99.99% pure gold, the international standard for gold bullion bars. PAMP Suisse is also known for its huge selection of different gold bar sizes and designs as well as for some of its highly innovative products such as the Divisible Bars that can be broken down into smaller segments. American consumers that are investing in gold for their retirements can of course include PAMP gold bars in their Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA's).
Why buy PAMP Gold Bars?
As one of the higher-end producers of gold bars, PAMP Suisse produces both minted and cast gold bars in a large variety of sizes. Minted gold bars are die-struck and usually bear an artistic design on the frontal side. They range in size between 0.3 gram and 1 kg. Cast gold bars are hand-poured and just display the PAMP logo, gold purity and weight, the assayer's stamp - Essayeur Fondeur - and a unique serial number on the front. These gold bars range in size from 1 Tael up to the Good Delivery 400 oz standard.
The table above lists all manufactured sizes of the minted "Fortuna" gold bars. The measurements of some bar sizes changed recently. The alternative older measurements appear in parentheses in the table above. Most sizes of the "Fortuna" gold bars are commonly found in the catalogs of online precious metal dealers. The measurements of PAMP Suisse gold bars with other designs could differ from the sizes of the "Fortuna" bars. Most PAMP gold bar sizes are denominated in grams which is not surprising since PAMP Suisse is based in Europe where the metric system is predominently used. The smallest of these just weighs 0.3 gram but few gold dealers will carry this unusual size in their catalogs. Usually, the smallest size that is available for purchase online is 1 gram and the largest 1 kg. In addition to the gram-denominated sizes, there are also PAMP Suisse gold bullion bars that are denominated in ounces or even the fairly unusual tolas or taels. Another type of gold bar product that PAMP Suisse offers is the highly innovative Divisible Bar. It is made up of segments that can be detached from each other. Only Valcambi Suisse offers a similar product with its CombiBar.
As far as the design of the gold bars is concerned, PAMP offers a larger choice than any other producer on the market. The most common design shows "Lady Fortuna" - the Roman goddess of fate and fortune. In fact, it was the first artistic design that ever appeared on precious metals bars. Other artistic designs found on PAMP Suisse gold bars have religious themes or show the zodiac animals associated with the Chinese Lunar year. That makes these bars with special designs highly collectible, something that is highly unusual for gold bullion bars that are normally only targeted towards investors. PAMP Suisse has even designed a range of small gold bars than can be worn as pendants. Besides the minted bars that often bear special designs, PAMP also offers a range of cast (hand-poured) gold bars that are unadorned.
The quality of all PAMP products is checked by independent assayers that are accredited by the Swiss Federal Bureau for the Control of Precious Metals. All PAMP Suisse precious metal bars are individually registered and sold in tamper-proof CertiPAMP™ packaging with an assay card that guarantees the authenticity, weight and purity of the bar. Unique serial numbers appear on the bars and are repeated on the accompanying assay certificate.
Finally, the larger PAMP gold bars (that are cheaper to produce) are generally available for lower premiums over the spot price of the metal.
Frontal Design
The front of a minted PAMP Suisse gold bar generally features some kind of artistic design. The image of a blindfolded "Lady Fortuna" - the Roman goddess of fate and fortune - holding a cornucopia filled with gold coins is perhaps the most common design. Other designs have a religious or Chinese Lunar theme, display a heart or flowers or the American Statue of Liberty. The plainest kind (and perhaps only unartistic) of all minted bars displays a repeated diagonal arrangement of the word SUISSE accross the front of the bar.
Cast bars display the PAMP Suisse logo on top. The 99.99% gold purity and bar weight appears in the middle underneath the logo. At the bottom of the front side of cast bars appears the assayer's stamp - Essayeur Fondeur - and the unique serial number.
Reverse Design
The reverse side of minted bars features the PAMP Suisse logo, weight and purity information, the assayer's stamp - Essayeur Fondeur - and a unique serial number. Cast gold bars have a plain backside without any designs or inscriptions.
PAMP Suisse Silver Bars
PAMP Suisse Silver Bars are minted at the company's refinery in Switzerland out of 99.9% fine silver. Perhaps no other mint produces silver bars in so many different sizes and with so many different designs. The smallest minted silver bars that PAMP Suisse offers weigh just 2.5 gram and the largest 1 kg. Cast silver bars weighing 1,000 oz also exist but are rarely sold online. Minted silver bars are available with many kinds of artistic designs on the front. "Lady Fortuna" is the most common of these designs but Chinese Lunar, religious and even love-themed designs exist as well. Cast silver bars just show the PAMP Suisse logo, 99.9% purity, bar weight, assayer's stamp and serial number on the front side of the bar. That info appears on the reverse of minted bars. PAMP Suisse silver bullion bars are eligible for inclusion in a Precious Metals IRA.
The PAMP Suisse Silver Bar page gives more information about the silver bars that PAMP Suisse produces and allows you to compare current prices.
PAMP Suisse Platinum Bars
PAMP Suisse offers both cast and minted platinum bullion bars in many different sizes. The bars are produced at PAMP's refinery in Switzerland out of 99.95% pure platinum. Minted platinum bars are available in sizes ranging from 1 gram up to 1 kg and with two different designs that appear on the front. The image of Lady Fortuna holding a cornucopia filled with coins is the most commonly used design. The other available design that is available for 1 gram and 5 gram PAMP Suisse platinum bars shows the American Statue of Liberty. Cast platinum bars are available in sizes between 1 kg and 6 kg. These larger bars just show the PAMP Suisse logo, purity and weight, assayer's stamp and in most cases a serial number on the front side of the bar. That info appears on the reverse of minted bars. PAMP Suisse platinum bullion bars are eligible for inclusion in a Precious Metals IRA.
The PAMP Suisse Platinum Bar page gives more information about the platinum bars that PAMP Suisse produces and allows you to compare current prices.
PAMP Suisse Palladium Bars
Compared with other producers, PAMP Suisse offers a fairly large selection of sizes of both minted and cast palladium bars. Both types of bars are minted out of 99.95% pure palladium. Cast bars are available in larger sizes ranging from 1 kg up to 6 kg. The front side of the bars displays the PAMP Suisse logo, bar weight and purity, the assayer's stamp and a unique serial number at the bottom. The minted palladium bullion bars that PAMP Suisse produces bear the image of Lady Fortuna on the front side and the logo, weight, purity, assayer's stamp and serial number on the reverse. Minted PAMP Suisse palladium bars are available in many different sizes ranging from 1 gram up to 1 kg. Divisible Bars out of palladium are only available as a part of the 16 x 2.5 gram Multi-Metal Multigram Divisible Bars that contain four 2.5 gram segments each out of gold, silver, platinum and palladium. Precious Metals IRA's are allowed to include PAMP palladium bars.
The PAMP Suisse Palladium Bar page gives more information about the palladium bars that PAMP Suisse produces and allows you to compare current prices.