When you enter the wonderful world of precious metals, whether you're a novice investor or an experienced buyer and seller, you'll quickly come across two terms: «recognized» and «unrecognized» when it comes to bullion. Although both may be made of pure precious metal, the differences - big or small - between them can have an impact on the offer you might receive for them.
The LBMA and recognized bullion
Recognized bullion refers to high-purity gold, silver, platinum or palladium products (coins, bars or ingots) that are widely accepted by precious metals dealers and investors worldwide. Before understanding the criteria that must generally be met to be considered in this category, we must first briefly talk about the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA).
The LBMA is the independent international authority for the world precious metals market. Established in 1987 by the Bank of England, its main functions are to set industry standards for trading and refining. These include:
- The Responsible Sourcing Programme, which requires refiners to follow strict guidelines to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and human rights violations.
- The Good Delivery List, which sets standards for the quality, purity, weight and physical appearance of gold and silver bars. Refiners who meet these strict criteria are eligible for inclusion on this list.
- The Global Precious Metals Code, a set of principles imposing high standards of ethical behavior and conduct on the global precious metals market.
- Setting reference prices: providing the global standard for the value of precious metals, the LBMA gold price and the silver price are determined twice daily, at 10:30 and 15:00 BST.
Once refiners have met the high standards of the Good Delivery List, their products can be freely traded between market institutions. The LBMA conducts annual audits to ensure that refiners continue to meet its requirements and maintain their status on the Good Delivery List.
The physical characteristics of recognized ingots mainly require a hallmark indicating weight (e.g. 1 oz, 1 kg, 50 oz), high purity (.999, 0.9999, etc.) and refinery or mint mark (RCM, PAMP Suisse, Valcambi, etc.). A unique serial number is generally required for bars.
Because these products come from well-known sources, they are highly liquid. We can often resell recognized bullion quickly to other investors, enabling us to offer higher payouts, closer to the live market spot price.
What are unrecognized ingots?
Unrecognized bullion includes precious metal items that do not fit into the above categories, and generally includes:
- Themed items: bars or round pieces featuring festive motifs or unique images (animals, cartoon characters, annual celebrations, etc.).
- Missing markings: items without a clear Mint hallmark or official mark.
- Condition problems: bars underweight or too damaged to be reasonably resold to another investor.
- Unregistered refiners, such as Franklin Mint or NWT Mint.
Although these items retain their value due to their metal content, they are generally destined to be sent to the refinery to be melted down and recycled into new products.
Tip: the advantage of «sealed» products»
In some cases, even recognized bullion bars can vary in price. For example, 1 oz gold bars that are «sealed» (in their original packaging with tamper-proof authenticity seal) can sometimes fetch a slightly higher price than «unsealed» or loose bars of the same brand. The packaging provides an extra layer of immediate authentication for the next buyer.
Get a free evaluation
If you're not sure whether your articles are recognized or not, the best step is to visit a local Canada Gold branch. Our precious metals analysts use modern, non-destructive testing methods to confirm the purity and weight of your items, right in front of you.
We offer free, no-obligation quotes based on real-time market prices, so you always know the true value of what you own.
