What is the formula for gold rate?

For digital gold: Gold price = Total price - GST For physical gold: Gold price = Total jewellery price - (making charges + GST + wastage charges + Hall mark charges + stone price). Once you have the total price, divide it by the weight of gold to find the gold rate per gram.

Gullak

Investing in Gold coins and Bars in 2025

By Team Gullak

Last updated : Aug 9, 2025

5 min read

Investing in Gold coins

Gold coins are a practical and strategic way to invest in physical gold. Here’s why they stand out:

Affordable Entry Point – Typically start from as low as 0.1 gms and go upto 100 gms.
Lower making charges - Coins carry lower making charges compared to jewellery and are a great way to store gold if you just want physical gold for price appreciation benefits. Generally, making charges on gold coins are around 9% at popular jewellers. However, on apps like Gullak you can get them at under 1% making plus delivery charge.
High Liquidity – Easily sold to jewellers, banks, or gold dealers, both locally and internationally. Gold coins often used by India families to accumulate Gold over time to covert into physical gold later on.
Price Transparency – Today, with Live Gold prices available on multiple online sources, you can verify the cost of gold coins as well for transparency while buying
Hedge Against Inflation – Coins like any gold asset maintain value during economic downturns and currency depreciation.
Portability & Storage – Compact and easy to store securely compared to bulky jewellery or large bars.
Purity Assurance – Coins from reputed mints come with 24K purity and proper hallmarking to ensure you're getting what you're paying for

Investing in Gold bars

Gold bars are one of the most cost-effective ways to invest in physical gold, offering high value with low premiums over the market price. Key advantages include:

Lower making charges – Compared to coins, bars have lower making charges, maximising investment returns even further. Making charges range around 3-5% while for gold coins it can go upto 9%
Bulk Investment – Ideal for those looking to invest large amounts in one purchase, available in weights from 10g to 1kg and beyond.
High Purity – Usually 24K gold with proper hallmarking and certification from recognised refiners.
Direct Link to Gold Price – Value is purely based on gold content, with barely any deductions for design or craftsmanship.
Long-Term Wealth Preservation – Historically proven to hold and grow value over decades, especially during inflation or economic instability like gold coins
Global Recognition – Branded bars from reputed mints are accepted worldwide, making them easy to trade internationally. Gold bars are also used for business purposes by vendors and refineries.

Gold Coins vs Gold Bars

Coins and bars serve a different set of purposes. Let's understand the difference with a table.

Table: Gold Coins vs Gold Bars

Criteraia	Gold Coins	Gold Bars
Minimum Investment	Low, available from 0.1g onwards	High, generally 10 gms onwards
Making Charges	Around 9% at jewellers, but you can get them for under 1% at Gullak	Lower, around 3%-5%
Liquidity	High	High but you generally can't sell parts of a big gold bar
Used for	Gifting, future jewellery purchase	Gold accumulation as an investment, by businesses

Should you invest in Gold coins and Gold bars in 2025?

Here are some pros of buying Gold coins and Gold bars in 2025:

Global economic conditions & Gold: Global economic conditions in 2025 have been marked by heightened uncertainty and a mixed outlook for growth. Early optimism in global markets gave way to volatility as geopolitical tensions (notably a resurgence of tariff wars and trade protectionism) disrupted trade flows and dented sentiment. Major economies are experiencing slower growth forecasts amidst this uncertainty. These uncertainties may further lead to Gold's appreciation in 2025.
Global Inflation: Concerns of global inflation hovering above 5% in the second half of 2025, with U.S. inflation around ~3%. This may further lead to gold price hike
Central banks stockpiling: Central banks, reacting to the evolving environment, are cautiously beginning to shift monetary policy: after aggressive rate hikes in 2022–2023, policy rates in 2025 are expected to plateau or even inch down if growth falters. Generally, this kind of buying is a good signal for gold prices

Cons of Gold coins and Gold bars in 2025:

Storage, Security and Insurance Costs: With physical gold comes the burden of secure storage. Investors must arrange safe custody for their coins and bars, typically a home safe or a bank safe-deposit locker – to protect against theft or loss.
Liquidity Friction and Premiums: While gold is liquid, selling physical gold may involve minor friction and costs. Dealers often buy below the prevailing market price. Moreover, when purchasing gold coins or small bars, investors pay a premium over the gold spot price for fabrication, minting, and dealer margins.
Purity and Authenticity Concerns: Physical gold can be subject to fraud or quality issues if not sourced reliably. An investor must ensure they buy hallmark-certified coins and bars from reputable sources to avoid counterfeit or under-karat gold.

Also read: How to check Hallmark on Gold

What to look for when buying Gold coins and bars?

Reputable seller: With sellers like Tanishq or refineries like Augmont, there's very minimal chance of any kind of fraud happening during the purchase. On Gullak, you can purchase 24K gold coins from Augmont(one of India's largest gold refineries). All the coins are BIS hallmarked and are 99.9% pure gold
Hallmarking: A hallmark is an official stamp or mark on gold that certifies its purity and authenticity. In India, this is governed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). You can use the BIS hallmark app to check the authenticity of your coin

A smart way of buying Gold coins

Gold coins generally require a big corpus for purchase. These can often put pinch in your wallet. Again, coins and bars aren't the best way to accumulate gold, you may forget to buy, they are difficult to store etc.

However, you can escape all these drawbacks by accumulating gold via Gullak.

Systematic Gold accumulation: With apps like Gullak you can accumulate digital gold with as low as ₹100. You can set up daily, weekly, monthly SIPs or make one-time investments - No discipline needed.
No storage issues: With digital gold purchases on Gullak, your gold is stored at secure lockers which are insured.
Flexibility at withdrawal: You can withdraw when you want as cash, gold coins or redeem gold jewellery. If your goal is to buy coins in the future, Gullak has 24K 99.9% pure gold coins of denominations 0.1gms-100gms. You can order coins from Gullak once you reach your target coin amount. If you want to buy jewellery, Gullak has partnerships with major jewellers like Tanishq, Malabar, Kalyan etc. You can redeem your gold savings on Gullak at these jewellers.
Extra 4% Gold: If you have a long term goal, like jewellery for wedding, you can benefit immensely with Gullak. With Gullak's feature Gold+, you get Extra 4% gold pa. So, if you invest 100 gms, in an year it becomes 104 gms and in 10 years it'll become 148 gms, which isn't possible with not just coins & bars but any other gold asset.

TL;DR

Gold Coins – Low entry point (0.1g onwards), portable, high liquidity, ideal for gifting or future jewellery purchase. Slightly higher premiums (~9% at jewellers; <1% on Gullak).
Gold Bars – Lower premiums (3–5%), best for bulk investment (10g–1kg+), high purity, efficient for storage, purely investment-focused.
2025 Outlook – Economic uncertainty, high inflation, and central bank buying could push gold prices up.
Cons of gold coins and bars – Physical storage costs, selling friction, authenticity risks if not bought from reputed sellers.
Smart Alternative – Use Gullak to accumulate gold digitally with ₹100+, earn extra 4% gold/year, and redeem as coins, jewellery, or cash anytime.

Also Read: commonly used gold units in India