The Certificate of Authenticity

Investment grade bullion produced by any reputable refiner always come with their unique serial number and corresponding certificate. This certificate is usually called the Assay Certificate or Certificate of Authenticity.

To most people, an Assay Certificate looks like any ordinary sheet of paper with the corresponding serial number on it. However, it is a guarantee that the bullion actually meets the purity standards and content specified by the mint. And it usually comes sealed with the bullion in a tamper proof packaging.

The certificate should contain the following:

  • Type of metal
  • Purity of metal a.k.a Fineness
  • Serial number of the bullion certified by the certificate
  • Name of the refiner

Next, we come to the Certificate of Authenticity – COA for short. The COA is different from the Assay certificate in that it does not certify the exact purity of the item. Usually the COA is not sealed with the item as well. It states the same details as the Assay certificate but only guarantees the authenticity. This makes COA more important for collectibles than for bullion.

Generally speaking, minted bullion bars come with Assay certificates while cast bullion bars, coins and collectibles come with COA.

This is one reason many investors who are looking for a slightly cheaper alternative to the minted bar tend to go for the cast bars from Swiss refineries – they have too much riding on their name.

Some brands like Metalor for example, even have COAs that go a step beyond by including an assayer’s signature on some of their COAs like their 1kg silver cast bars. This boosts the confidence investors have in their bullion cast bars.

The Metalor silver 1 kilogram cast bars sold here will include the COA with the assayer’s signature on them. But some customers have been asking what happens if the COA goes missing. In such cases, there will usually be a mark down on the buy back price of the bullion. Hence it is important to keep the COA together with the bullion to prevent the misplacement of the COA.

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