10g PAMP Suisse Lakshmi Ganesh Gold Bar

The 10g PAMP Suisse Lakshmi Gold Bar

This bar belongs to PAMP Suisse's Faith Series, marketed by some US and UK retailers as the Religious Series, a collection of gold bars representing five world religions; the other four designs cover Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism. The Hindu design depicts Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity, seated within a lotus bloom, an image connected to the celebrated 19th-century portrait of Lakshmi by the Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma. Note that the PAMP Suisse line features Lakshmi alone; bars pairing Lakshmi with Ganesh come from a separate MMTC-PAMP product line made by a different refinery.

PAMP Suisse, founded in 1977 in Ticino, Switzerland, strikes the bar in .9999 fine gold, individually numbered and sealed in a blistercard assay pack with a matching certificate. The Essayeur Fondeur hallmark of Swiss precious metals assayers appears on the reverse alongside the PAMP logo.

At 10 grams, 0.3215 troy ounces, the bar sits in the gift-and-savings bracket of the gold market. The weight is a standard metric size across European dealers and an extensively used savings and gifting denomination through banks and jewellers in India, the UAE and Turkey, which is exactly the audience a Lakshmi design speaks to. Buyers optimising purely for cost should know that 10g bars carry premiums of roughly 8 to 12 percent over spot, well above larger bars; the design and occasion are a large part of what this product is for, alongside the metal in a 10g gold bar.

PAMP Lakshmi 10g Bar Specifications

The obverse shows the four-armed Lakshmi seated in a lotus flower: two raised hands holding flower petals, one hand holding a pot and the fourth emanating coins, with rays of light behind her head and traditional Hindu headdress and jewellery. The reverse carries the PAMP Suisse logo, the weight and purity inscription, the Essayeur Fondeur mark and the serial number.

The Lakshmi design is also struck at 5g and 1 oz, all at identical .9999 purity; the 10g and 1 oz share the same 24 by 41 mm footprint, with the ounce bar thicker. Keeping the blistercard sealed preserves the assay certification that buyback desks expect to see.

Tax Treatment of the 10g PAMP Lakshmi Gold Bar

The .9999 fineness puts this bar above every investment-gold purity threshold in force.

• UK: VAT-exempt as investment gold (the bar threshold is 995 fineness). Not legal tender, so no CGT exemption; gains above the £3,000 annual allowance are taxed at 10 or 20 percent depending on income.
• EU: VAT-exempt under the EU Gold Directive, which sets the same 995 minimum for bars.
• US: No federal sales tax; most states exempt bullion, though a single bar at roughly $1,000 to $1,100 of gold sits near the exemption thresholds in Florida ($500), New York, Massachusetts and Louisiana ($1,000) and below California's $2,000 line, so state and order size matter. Long-term gains are taxed at up to the 28 percent collectibles rate. The bar meets the IRS .995 purity floor for precious metals IRAs, subject to custodian approval.
• Canada: 0% GST/HST, with the 99.5 percent minimum purity comfortably met.
• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade gold; the ATO threshold for bars is 99.5 percent purity.
• New Zealand: 0% GST for gold at 99.5 percent purity or better.
• Singapore and Hong Kong: No GST or sales tax on qualifying investment gold and no capital gains tax in either jurisdiction.

Lakshmi vs Fortuna, Other 10g Bars and the 1/4 oz Coin

Within PAMP's own catalogue the obvious alternative is the 10g PAMP Suisse Fortuna, the refiner's flagship design and one of the most recognised small gold bars in the world. Specifications are equivalent; the choice is aesthetic and occasional, with the Lakshmi bar built for Diwali gifting and Hindu households in a way the Fortuna is not. Beyond PAMP, the 10g weight is produced by Valcambi, Perth Mint, Argor-Heraeus, Heraeus and the Royal Mint, all sealed in tamper-evident assay cards, and Valcambi in particular is often the keenest-priced of the Swiss names.

For buyers wanting Lakshmi and Ganesh together, that design exists, but from MMTC-PAMP, the Indian joint-venture refinery, as a distinct product line rather than from PAMP Suisse itself. Conflating the two is the most common confusion around these bars.

The cross-format comparison is the 1/4 oz sovereign coin, which lands at a similar $1,000 to $1,100 price point. The bar holds more metal, 10 grams against the coin's 7.78 grams, but quarter-ounce coins from the major mints typically carry lower percentage premiums and stronger brand recognition at resale, particularly in the US and UK where troy-ounce denominations dominate. More gold per purchase favours the bar; easier liquidity favours the coin. And for anyone simply accumulating weight, the premium curve says wait and buy bigger: the step from 10g to 50g bars is the largest premium improvement in the gram bar range, from 8 to 12 percent down to 3 to 6 percent.