Dhanteras 2018 countdown has begun for many Indians as the auspicious occasion is almost upon us - it will be celebrated tomorrow. Many would have started to chalk out their expenses, making sure they buy a piece of yellow metal for themselves. Buying gold is considered a good luck charm for many Indians during Dhanteras festival. From tomorrow onwards, Diwali season too would be in full swing, hence, there would be heavy queues at the doors of jewelers. While there is section of people that prefers to buy jewelry in either gold, silver, white gold or platinum, there is also another one that prefers gold coins or gold bars. This decoding exercise is all about the latter.

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The thought process is very simple on Dhanteras - at least one piece of gold should be purchased as it is believed wealth of the family would be blessed for the entire year. Barring this, any other metal purchase is considered auspicious. Gold is seen as the most popular metal when it comes to investment and sale.

For people who are excited to purchase gold coins or gold bars, here’s what you need to know before making a decision. On this occasion, it is always wise to ensure you make the best purchase possible. Therefore, let’s understand the difference between gold coins or gold bars.

For seasoned and large scale investors, gold bars are a better way of investing in gold. These large bars are usually available at the lowest prices as compared to their smaller counterparts. However, there is a catch in buying large bars. These bars do not have the same saleable nature as smaller ones. This is because your choice of buyer gets restricted owing to the bigger size and consequently higher price of large gold bars.

Gold Coins

People who do not have hefty amounts of money, for them gold coins comes as a better option during Dhanteras. This metal is offered at cheaper rates. These are more readily available compared to gold bars and can be purchased in the denominations of even 05 gram and 100 grams.
 
However, yellow coins sales still lag behind gold bars in terms of valuation. Apart from this, gold coin is easily disposed.

Because they are easily available, the first foremost feature of gold coin is that they are available in several denominations ranging from 0.5 gram to 100 grams.

Hence, they can be purchased strictly in-line with purchasing power of an individual.

This coin is best for those who cannot afford to overspend.

Second feature would be that, gold coins can be easily traded in times of need as they are in smaller size. Therefore, a customer does not have to wait for a longer period of time for finding a suitable buyer and vice versa.

There are few shopping e-commerce portals which also offer gold coins online with BIS Hallmark of 24 Karat purity. This hallmark is standard which reflects the purity of the gold.

Gold bars

Gold bars, which are also called bullion, are available for seasoned and large scale investors. These bars also come with a BIS hallmark certificate indicating the purity and authenticity of the metal.

In a BankBazaar report, it is mentioned that, these large bars are usually available at the lowest prices as compared to their smaller counterparts. However, there is a catch in buying large bars. These bars do not have the same saleable nature as smaller ones. This is because your choice of buyer gets restricted owing to the bigger size and consequently higher price of large gold bars.

Going ahead, also considering that gold bars are in large pieces, they will be difficult to melt or reshape. Apart from this, there are also additional charges levied while selling a gold bar.  

It needs to be noted that, premiums on gold bars are always increasing hence, their value tends to be higher even while buying and selling.

Exact price of gold bars is derived from several market factors which are quite volatile.

Hence, if you are confused about gold coins and gold bars while purchasing yellow metal during Dhanteras, then you might want to keep the above mentioned pros and cons in mind.