Most buyers want two things: fair entry and a clean exit. If you plan to purchase silver bars in the UK, buy recognised bars, price them per gram in GBP and choose custody before checkout. Here’s how we approach it at the mint so you can act with confidence and avoid unnecessary costs.
What Purity and Formats Should You Look For?
When you buy bars for investment, look for fine silver marked 999 or 999.9. Both are fine silver purities and widely accepted. What matters more in practice is how easy a bar is to verify and resell. When you purchase silver bars, recognised brands, clear markings and intact packaging make checks quick and support stronger bids at resale.
You’ll see two finishes:
Minted bars are cut from rolled sheet with a clean, uniform look. They often come sealed in an assay card that shows weight and fineness.
Cast bars are poured and then stamped. They have a traditional, industrial profile.
Neither is inherently better. Choose minted if you value presentation and tidy packaging, which helps when gifting or selling individually. Choose cast if you prefer the classic poured aesthetic and larger weights to lower cost per gram.
Typical choices are 100 g, 250 g, 500 g and 1 kg. Pick a main size to suit your budget, then add a few smaller units if you plan staged sales. Buying from an LBMA‑recognised refiner such as Baird Mint adds confidence at purchase and exit because we serialise each bar and back each one with in‑house refining and quality checks. LBMA stands for the London Bullion Market Association, which sets international standards for bullion; recognition helps buyers and dealers price and verify bars quickly.
How Are Silver Bar Prices Set in the UK?
Here’s how the checkout price forms in GBP:
USD/oz → GBP/gram: convert using 31.1034768 and the live GBP/USD rate.
Add the premium: fabrication, distribution and dealer costs.
Apply VAT for UK delivery (20%).
What moves the premium in practice?
Size & format: larger bars tend to lower cost per gram; minted packaging can price a touch higher.
Brand & packaging: recognised refiners, serial numbers and sealed assay packaging tend to support tighter resale spreads.
Market conditions: fast markets widen spreads. When markets are calm, spreads compress.
Inventory: fresh batches can ease premiums, and thin stock can lift them until restock.
Use these drivers to time purchases in calmer markets or when fresh stock arrives, and to pick sizes that keep your average cost down for a fair entry point when you purchase silver bars.
Ways to Invest in Silver (and Where Baird Fits)
Bars (focus of this guide): Straightforward exposure with simple pricing. Larger weights reduce cost per gram; pair bars with insured delivery if you want them in hand or choose vault custody if you want efficiency and quick sell‑back. For many UK investors, this is a straightforward way to purchase silver bars for core exposure.
Coins (brief context): Coins often carry higher fabrication costs but can help with smaller disposals and specific resale preferences. If you value flexibility in smaller units, coins can complement bars in a mixed plan.
Vault storage and unallocated: Vault storage holds metal allocated and segregated in your name. No VAT applies at purchase or on sell‑back while the bars remain vaulted. If you later request UK delivery, VAT becomes payable then. Unallocated metal is a custody claim you can convert to bars or sell back, which is useful if you want swift exposure first. Vault suits investors who value no VAT at purchase, quicker placement and tidy records; unallocated suits fast entry before you convert to bars.
ETFs (one‑line context): They give convenient price exposure without holding metal, and Baird specialises in physical bullion, custody and sell‑back routes.
Delivery vs Insured Vault Storage
Pick insured delivery if you want bars in hand, and factor in 20% VAT and a slightly slower resale check‑in. We pack each order discreetly, track it and insure it door‑to‑door. You pay 20% VAT on UK delivery, and resale can take longer because a dealer needs to check your bars in.
Vault storage offers another option. We hold your bars allocated and segregated in your name within Baird’s high‑security facility. When you buy for vault storage, no VAT applies at purchase or on sell‑back while the bars remain vaulted. If you later request UK delivery, VAT becomes payable then. Choose vault for no VAT at purchase, faster sell‑back from custody and regular statements for your records.
Packaging, Serials and At‑Home Checks
Take one clear photo with the bar, the assay card and your invoice in frame; keep all inserts until checks are done. This gives you a simple audit trail and speeds any support or resale check.
Match the serial on the bar or assay card to your bar list, and confirm weight, fineness and hallmark.
Keep assay blisters sealed and avoid unnecessary handling of cast bars.
If anything looks off, email support with photos first. Do not open or repackage.
Choosing Bar Sizes for Liquidity and Cost Control
When you purchase silver bars, your choice of size affects liquidity and cost.
1 kg: lowest per‑gram price and a single‑ticket exit (cheapest to buy, least flexible to sell).
500 g: good balance of cost and flexibility (two bars place more easily than one kilo).
250 g: staged selling, gifting and easy placement (popular for partial exits).
A common approach is to pick a primary size for cost control and add a few smaller bars for future staged sales. That way you keep pricing efficient without locking yourself into one large ticket later.
Why Baird Bars Are Easy to Verify and Simple to Resell
Buying refinery‑made bars from a long‑standing UK mint gives you a clear chain from manufacture to delivery or vault custody. Baird Mint refines and manufactures in London, so our team controls quality under one roof. We serialise and document each bar, which makes matching paperwork straightforward. We record packing checks and send orders by insured, tracked services. You can also place bars directly into insured, segregated vault storage. If you hold bars in our vault, we can usually price and place them sooner because they’re already checked and allocated. It also helps you purchase silver bars and sell them later without friction.
Step‑by‑Step: How to Purchase Silver Bars from Baird Mint
Open an account and complete ID checks (we require ID for purchases).
Choose sizes and finish (minted suits presentation, cast suits larger weights).
Pick custody: delivery to you, or allocated vault storage.
Pay by bank transfer for larger orders. It clears quickly, avoids card limits and can reduce payment friction on larger tickets. We’ll ship with tracking or confirm allocation in vault custody.
Simple Buying Principles That Keep You on Track
Define your objective first. Low cost per gram, staged selling, or gifting will push you to different sizes.
Decide custody before checkout. Delivery and vault have different tax and logistics.
Keep packaging intact and match identifiers to paperwork on arrival.
Use bank transfer for larger orders to keep costs and processing delays down and keep reference numbers clear.
Store records together. Photos, invoices and bar lists speed any future sale.
Follow these steps to purchase silver bars with less friction.
Compare Live Silver Bar Prices and Place Your Order
Open an account to compare live premiums by size and purchase silver bars. Build in vault now and decide on delivery later. Learn more about vault storage if you prefer custody over delivery. Prefer bars in hand? Select Insured Delivery with discreet packing and full tracking. All UK deliveries ship insured and tracked. Prefer a face‑to‑face run‑through of sizes and custody? Book a Hatton Garden appointment or email sales@bairdmint.com.
