Umicore 50g Gold Bar in Assay Card

Brand new Umicore 50g gold bars available at low margins over the spot price from The Britannia Coin Company of Royal Wootton Bassett. 

Umicore Refinery

Umicore can trace its earliest roots back to the early 19th century when Emperor Napoleon granted Jean-Jacques Dony control of the Vieille-Montagne zinc mine, which is close to the modern-day Belgian-German border. However, the main root of the current Umicore company established itself as the Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK, Mining Union of Upper Katanga) in 1906, working primarily as a copper mine in the Congo. It was heavily supported by the colonial government and soon became a world leader in the supply of metals such as copper, uranium and cobalt. Precious metals such as gold and silver were also mined and refined, but the UMHK mainly focussed on base metals and heavy metals during this time. 

After the company's nationalisation at the hands of President Mobutu Sese Seko, the UMHK rebranded itself as Union Minière in 1968, reflecting its forced departure from in the Katanga Province in the Congo. Having suddenly lost the vast majority of its business, it was formally taken over by Société Général de Belgique and realigned itself to more European interests.

Later on in 1989, the company started to take its present-day form when the merger of its subsidiary companies (Metallurgie Hoboken-Overpelt, Vieille-Montagne and Mechim) transformed Union Minière into a multinational, integrated materials technology company. To reflect this change, the company rebranded again in 2001, taking up its current name Umicore.

Buy Umicore 50g Gold Bars

Gold 50g bars from Umicore are an excellent choice to add to a gold investment portfolio. Each bar contains exactly 50 grams (1.6075 troy ounces) of pure gold and has a fineness of 24 carat (0.9999). 

Being in new condition, these Umicore gold bars are issued sealed in a protective assay card. This plastic packaging doubles up as the bar's official certificate and includes the fineness, weight, serial number and a copy of the assayer's signature. Storing these Umicore bars is fairly straightforward, fitting neatly inside home safes, under the floorboards on in safe deposit boxes.

Why Buy Gold Bars?

At The Britannia Coin Company, we have gathered a significant amount of knowledge from the years we have been in business, so we believe we can provide useful information for investing in gold for the interested layperson. However, please note that this doesn't constitute formal financial advice.

'For investment purposes, it's wise to purchase gold at the lowest possible premium over the live spot price, irrespective of design, shape or metal fineness. Generally, larger gold bars such as these Umicore 50g gold bars are cheaper than gold coins in terms of percentage premium.'

Other considerations to factor in are capital gains tax implications and the ability to liquidate part of your gold portfolio. You can read more about this in-depth in our Buying Gold Bars vs Gold Coins article. If these motives are of no concern to you, then the competitive margin offered on these Umicore 50g gold bars can make them a very attractive investment vehicle.