People ask us what size silver bar should I buy almost as often as they ask us whether they should buy silver at all. The answer to the second question is in our post on whether silver is a good investment in Canada. The answer to the first one is simpler than most people make it.
We recommend 10 oz bars to most of our customers. Specifically the 10 oz Royal Canadian Mint bar. That is the short answer. The longer answer depends on your budget and how much you are buying, so let me walk through all three sizes.
1 oz Silver Bars
A 1 oz silver bar is where most people start. It is the lowest commitment. Right now a 1 oz Sunshine Minting bar on our site is $112.31 CAD with spot around $110. The premium in dollar terms is small but on a percentage basis it is the highest of the three sizes because the minting and handling costs get spread across a single ounce instead of ten or a hundred.
If you are buying a few ounces a month because that is what your budget allows, 1 oz bars work. They also give you the most flexibility if you ever need to sell a small amount. But if you are planning to accumulate any real position over time, you are paying the highest premium on every ounce. That adds up. Fifty 1 oz bars cost meaningfully more than five 10 oz bars even though you end up with the same amount of silver.
We do not discourage people from starting here. Starting is more important than optimizing. But once your budget allows it, move up to 10 oz.
What Size Silver Bar Should I Buy? The 10 oz RCM Bar
If someone walks into our shop or calls us and asks what size silver bar should I buy, the 10 oz bar is the first thing we show them.
The premium per ounce drops significantly from 1 oz bars. You are getting more silver for the same money. A 10 oz bar is practical to store, easy to handle, and heavy enough that you are building a real position without managing dozens of individual pieces. It is the size that makes sense for the widest range of buyers.
Now within the 10 oz category there is a choice. You can buy an assorted 10 oz bar which is whatever brand we have in stock at the time. That gets you the lowest premium. Or you can step up to the 10 oz Royal Canadian Mint bar and that is what we like the most.
The RCM bar is .9999 fine. Serial numbered. Tamper-evident packaging. It is recognized by every dealer in Canada and internationally. When you come back to us to sell, we pay more for RCM bars than for generic brands because we can resell them faster. The premium difference going in between an assorted bar and an RCM bar is small. The difference on the way out is bigger. That math favors the RCM bar every time.
Most of our long-term customers figured this out on their own after their first couple of purchases. They start with whatever is cheapest, then switch to RCM once they realize the resale value matters.
100 oz Silver Bars
A 100 oz RCM silver bar is a serious piece of silver. 6.8 pounds. .9999 fine. Serial numbered. When you hold one you understand why people buy physical metals. It feels like money in a way that a number on a screen never will.
The premiums per ounce are the lowest of the three sizes. If you are building a large position and you are holding for the long term, 100 oz bars are the most cost-effective way to accumulate silver. The savings over buying the same amount in 1 oz bars are substantial. Even compared to 10 oz bars the per-ounce cost comes down noticeably.
The tradeoff is that you are locking up roughly $11,000 CAD in a single bar at current prices. You cannot peel off a few ounces when you need cash. When you sell, you sell the whole thing. If you think you might need to liquidate part of your position at some point, a stack of 10 oz bars gives you more control.
Storage is the other consideration. 100 oz bars are heavy and they stack up fast. Two or three of them and you are talking about 20 pounds of silver. You need a proper safe and you need to think about it before the bars arrive, not after. We wrote about that in our post on how to store silver at home.
100 oz bars are for people who already know they want a significant silver position, who have the budget to buy in size, and who are not planning to sell anytime soon.
Choosing the Right Silver Bar Size for Your Stack
The people who have been buying from us for a while usually end up with a mix. A few 100 oz bars as the foundation. A stack of 10 oz RCM bars that they add to regularly. And some silver coins or 1 oz bars for flexibility. That combination gets you the best premiums on the big pieces, good liquidity on the medium ones, and optionality when you need it.
But if you are just starting and you want one answer to what size silver bar should I buy, it is the 10 oz RCM bar. That is what we sell the most of. That is what we would buy ourselves. And that is what we tell people every day.
Browse our silver bars. Check the live silver price in CAD. If you want help figuring out the right size for your situation, reach out.
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