Cast and minted gold bars, the refiners behind them, and what separates a good-delivery bar from a gift ingot.

Plated copies, tungsten cores and fake assay cards: how counterfeit gold bars work, which checks catch them and why the seller matters most.

Why Credit Suisse gold bars still trade after the bank's takeover by UBS, who refined them, how to check one and where they turn up today.

The three families of gold bars, the sizes that actually trade, what the stamp on a bar tells you and why a 1 oz bar costs more per gram than a kilo.

Ingot or bar? What 999.9, 999 and 995 mean, why people buy gold ingots, where to buy them and how to assess an ingot from an unfamiliar maker.

What makes gold physically unique, how it served as money from early coinage to 1971, and the main ways to hold gold bullion today.

Johnson Matthey no longer makes gold bars, but its bars still trade. The sizes it produced, how serial numbers work and how to buy or sell JM bars today.

The Swiss refiner behind PAMP gold bars, its best-known minted designs, how its assay cards and Veriscan scanning work, and what to check when buying.

Who stands behind Perth Mint gold bars, how its cast and minted bars differ, how to recognize the swan emblem and what to check when you buy one.