Have you ever wondered how gold gets to the market and who is involved? What about value weighing—do you know what you are getting for a certain price and why?

Like any commodity, investment gold is accompanied by unavoidable costs in the process of extraction, transport, and security, which are beyond the control of the final trader or broker.

The final price therefore tells you not only how many grams you are getting for your money, but also what makes the metal you are investing in so special. To ensure your purchase satisfaction, find out how gold travels from the mine to you and who is involved.

From mining to semi-pure alloy

Gold is mined in gold mines all over the world. After mining, the gold is first separated from other minerals, and then the semi-pure doré alloy is poured into bars. These bars then undergo a refining process that extracts the purified gold, ready to go on the market.

A doré bar is a semi-pure gold alloy that needs further refining before it becomes attractive to investors.

Worldwide distribution and route

After refining, gold bars are separated according to weight and take different routes to financial centers and brokers around the world.

The larger bars, labeled Good Delivery, go to the vaults of financial institutions dedicated exclusively to the storage and trading of precious metals and to central banks.
Smaller bars, lighter than 1 kg, go to banks, and from there to dealers and end customers.

Dealers can also buy gold from savers and investors and return it for recycling and refining before the metal makes its way back to the market.

How do you get precious metals with Valores?

With Valores, you can invest in precious metals in the way that suits you best.

Valores Metal Account: saving in physical precious metals

Our advanced financial product, the Valores Metals Account, allows you to set your own savings goal, adjust the amount and frequency of your deposits, and monitor your balance anytime, anywhere.

Physical bars and coins

Valores gives you extra peace of mind when you buy physical bars or coins of gold and silver, as the Good Delivery status gives added security to the precious metals we offer.

The Good Delivery Standard describes the physical characteristics of gold and silver bars traded on the London Bullion Wholesale Market. Investment bars with this status are of high purity and are therefore commonly traded on major international markets and held in the gold reserves of governments, central banks, and the International Monetary Fund.

For greater security, Valores offers bullion storage in Liechtenstein, a highly protected and world-renowned financial destination. If you wish, we can also deliver gold bars over 50 g to Slovenia, and you can arrange storage yourself.

Learn more about the process of buying precious metals

Security with many benefits

Investing in precious metals is one of the most important decisions you can make in your life, as it provides a more secure route to financial freedom.

High security

At Valores, we offer the highest security level in the world, 10/10 (2.5x higher than the 4/10 level in the Slovenian banking system). In the event of natural disasters or other emergencies, your assets are not seized.

Purchase silver without VAT

Buying silver through Valores is done in a duty-free zone in Liechtenstein, which means you are buying VAT-free. So for the same money, you get 22% more silver than in Slovenia.

Exclusive ownership

You remain the owner of your precious metals; you just buy, sell, and store them at the best market conditions through Valores.

Better prices

At Valores, you get better prices compared to other providers on the market, because we have a wide network of buyers and sellers, which gives us optimal market conditions.

Double audit

Valores is audited by a foreign auditor, who checks the quantities, and a Slovenian auditor, who checks the compliance of the quantities held by the clients. In unforeseen situations, the insurance policy covers an actual amount equal to the assets in custody, which means fully insured assets.

100% coverage

We only buy physical precious metals on your behalf and do not trade them on the stock market.

Insurance and reinsurance

Your precious metals holdings are always 100% insured through Valores.

Trading flexibility

We can arrange to buy and sell precious metals in the way that suits you best, according to your wishes and needs.

What is covered by the price of precious metals?
As the figure above shows, precious metals travel a long way before they reach you. The final price is therefore not the same as the stock exchange price, which many people mistakenly use to check the value of an asset.

But markups also vary depending on the quantity—the more you buy, the lower the cost. For gold purchases of more than €3,000, the markup is 5.5%, and for smaller gold bars or bars, such as those commonly found in the Metal Account, the markup is 11.5%.

Where do these markups come from, and what do they cover?

On the way from the mine to you, the cost of bar production, transport, metal insurance, all transfers, documentation, and storage are added to the gold. Metals insured in this way are as much as 30% more expensive than those from other providers on the market.

Similarly, investment silver is charged a 14% premium for both large and small values.

What is a good price, and what is a bad price?

Price advantage cannot be measured in numbers, but in what you get for a given price.
If you buy a fake, if the gold does not meet the Good Delivery standard, if it has no documented storage, or if it is not guaranteed by an independent audit report, any price, however low, is ultimately too high.

The price is right when you get the most for your money, not just in grams. So when you buy, pay attention to whether you also get:
– bars with Good Delivery status,
– an independent double audit of the property,
– permanent ownership of the metal,
– access to your status anytime, anywhere,
– clear monitoring of your savings accounts,
– highly secured safekeeping in Liechtenstein, and
– the possibility to buy silver tax-free.

Valores offers you all this.

Investments are valued by what you get

Investing in precious metals is an important decision, which is why we always encourage you to be responsible with your wealth and compare the different offers on the market. But we believe that Valores offers the best value for money because you get by far the best conditions and the highest security for your money.

Don’t let the numbers fool you. What makes up for it is the security, insurance, and reliability of an investment worth every euro.