How Much Do Silver Bars Weigh?

Silver bars come in a variety of sizes. Some of the most common sizes include 1 oz, 5 oz, 10 oz, 1 kilo, and 100 ounces.

The largest silver bar ever made is likely unknown. There are some reports of a 50 kg silver bar discovered in a shipwreck near Madagascar, but there’s no real confirmation on the discovery. In practical terms, the largest silver bar readily available for the public is a 1000-ounce bar.

This page is your guide to the different sizes of silver bars that you’ll usually find. The information below should help to contextualize the various measures and how big, or not, a silver bar really is.

Silver Bar Conversion Chart

To get started, here’s a comprehensive table of all standard silver bar sizes, along with their weight conversions in kilos, troy ounces, and pounds.

Common Weights and Sizes of Silver Bars

Of all the weights listed above, a few are a bit more common and popular than the others. You will find more options to buy silver bars if you buy them in either 1 oz, 5 oz, or 10 oz denominations.

Below are some of the better options in each category.

1 Ounce Silver Bars

• 1 oz Sunshine Silver Bar
• 1 oz SilverTowne Buffalo Silver Bar
• 1 oz SilverTowne American Flag Silver Bar

Shop all 1 oz silver bars

5 Ounce Silver Bars

• 5 oz JBR Silver Bar
• 5 oz SilverTowne Eagle Silver Bar
• 5 oz SilverTowne American Flag Silver Bar

Shop all 5 oz silver bars

10 Ounce Silver Bars

• 10 oz SilverTowne Buffalo Silver Bar
• 10 oz JBR Silver Bar
• 10 oz British Silver Britannia Bar

Shop all 10 oz silver bars

Why Troy Ounces?

You may have noticed that the table mentioned troy ounces, not just ounces. In precious metals, we use the troy ounce, rather than the avoirdupois or standard ounce.

A troy ounce weighs more than a standard ounce and weighs less than a standard pound. This oddity is due to the fact that the Troyes merchants adapted the Latin word uncia as the basis for their new ounce. Uncia translates into English as “one twelfth,” so a troy pound consists of 12 troy ounces.

However, as any bakers, cooks, or people who graduated high school and can remember it will attest, there are 16 ounces in a standard pound. So, even though the individual units for troy ounces are heavier, 12 of them aren’t as heavy as 16 standard ones.

Learn more: What is a troy ounce? 

Silver Bars and Stacking Silver

Silver bars are often great for stacking your silver into neat stacks. Because they are generally the same shape, they almost fit together.

However, some silver bars are easier to stack than others because they have lower profile designs to them. In other words, if you’re interested in stacking, look for bars that have minimal designs and engravings, as they’ll be easier to balance.

The best thing to do, obviously, is buy only the same-sized bars from the same manufacturer. That way, even their designs will fit together. However, that might not be what you have in mind for your collection or investment goals.

What Is The Best Bar Size to Purchase?

Ah, the million-dollar question. Well, more like the hundred-dollar question, but it’s still an important one.

The good news is that all of them are the best size – depending on who you are. The size decision hangs on your goals for your investment, the diversification of your portfolio, and the budget you have available.

For some, the point of investing in precious metals is to maximize the amount of precious metals in their possession. So, large bars might be the thing for that kind of investor.

For others, it might make more sense that your silver bars need only be part of a larger precious metals portfolio, so small or medium bars might fit the bill. Of course, budget concerns affect everyone, including silver bar investors. So, you might need to buy your silver piecemeal in smaller portions.

Finally, it’s important to understand that premiums tend to get lower, percentage-wise, as the size of the silver bars increases. Like most things, it does pay to buy in bulk.

Other articles of interest:

• How much does a gold bar weigh?
• Is silver a good investment?
• What’s better, silver coins or silver bars?

Conclusion

In closing, there are tons of different weights that silver bars may appear. You can buy a bar as small as a gram or as large as 1000 ounces (a 62.5-pound bar).

Whatever the case, we probably have a size for you. Visit JM Bullion’s silver bar page today, and start choosing the size of bar that you want. Or, you can drop us a line, and we can walk you through the options.