1 oz Asahi Refining Lunar Gold Bar

A New Zodiac Series from an LBMA Refiner with Deep Roots

The 1 oz Asahi Lunar Gold Bar is part of a Chinese zodiac series launched in 2023 by Asahi Refining, an LBMA Good Delivery refiner with facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah and Brampton, Ontario. The series was introduced with the 2024 Dragon design and expanded to include gold bars for the 2025 Snake year, following an initial silver-only launch. Each annual release features a new zodiac animal design, with the stated intention of continuing through the full 12-year cycle to 2035.

Asahi Refining's institutional credentials run deeper than the brand name suggests. The company was formed in 2015 when Japan's Asahi Holdings acquired Johnson Matthey's gold and silver refining businesses. Johnson Matthey's involvement in precious metals refining stretched back nearly 200 years, and the Salt Lake City facility retains the LBMA Good Delivery accreditation earned under that legacy. This makes the Asahi Lunar bar a product of one of the longest-running refining operations in the world, now under Japanese ownership.

The gold bar sits at 999.9 fineness, the standard for investment-grade gold bars from major refiners. As a newer series in the zodiac bullion market, it competes on price rather than collector heritage, positioning itself as a lower-premium alternative to the more established Argor-Heraeus Lunar and Perth Mint Lunar ranges. For investors who want zodiac-themed gold from an LBMA refiner without paying the collector premiums that longer-running series command, the Asahi Lunar occupies a practical middle ground.

Asahi Lunar Gold Bar Specifications

Design

The obverse carries the debossed Asahi Refining logo on a reverse-proof finished background, with inscriptions reading "1 OUNCE TROY," "LUNAR CALENDAR SERIES," and "FINE GOLD .9999." The reverse changes annually with each zodiac animal. The 2024 Dragon shows a dragon entwined around a Cypress Tree, symbolising growth and prosperity associated with the Wood Dragon year. The 2025 Snake depicts a snake hanging from a tree branch, accented with plum blossoms and lanterns representing good fortune.

Bars are available in tamper-evident assay card packaging or without packaging for bulk purchase. The gold bar variants (1g, 2.5g, and 1 oz) were introduced with the 2025 Snake year, expanding the range from its silver-only origins. The silver versions of the Lunar series are produced in both bar format (50 x 29 x 2 mm) and round format (39 mm diameter), with each format sharing the same reverse design but differing in shape and obverse layout.

Tax Treatment of the 1 oz Asahi Lunar Gold Bar

• United States: No federal sales tax. State exemptions in approximately 35 states. IRA-eligible: Asahi Refining is LBMA-accredited and the 999.9 purity exceeds the IRS 99.5% requirement. Capital gains taxed at the 28% collectibles rate for long-term holdings.
• United Kingdom: VAT-exempt as investment gold (999.9 fineness exceeds the 995 threshold). Subject to CGT at 18-24% on disposal. Not CGT-exempt.
• Canada: GST/HST-exempt at 99.5%+ purity. Asahi's Canadian refining operations in Brampton, Ontario make the bar readily available to Canadian investors.
• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade gold at 99.5%+ purity. Capital gains assessable with 50% discount after 12 months.
• European Union: VAT-exempt as investment gold under Directive 98/80/EC.
• Singapore: GST-exempt under the IPM scheme. No CGT.
• Hong Kong: No sales tax, no import duty, no CGT.
• New Zealand: GST-exempt for gold at 99.5%+ purity.

The thematic zodiac design has no impact on tax classification. The bar is treated identically to any other 999.9 fine gold bar for tax purposes in all jurisdictions.

Asahi Lunar vs Argor-Heraeus Lunar and Perth Mint Lunar

The Asahi Lunar series entered a market already served by two established zodiac bullion programmes, each with a different value proposition. The 1 oz Argor-Heraeus Lunar Gold Bar is the most direct competitor: also an LBMA-accredited gold bar with annual zodiac designs. Argor-Heraeus has a multi-year head start and tighter mintage caps (often using culturally significant numbers like 18,888), which gives its bars a stronger collector following. The Asahi bar competes on price, typically trading at lower premiums that reflect its newer market position and less established collectibility.

Perth Mint's Lunar gold coins are the dominant force in zodiac bullion globally, but they are coins rather than bars, with legal tender status ($100 AUD face value) and correspondingly higher premiums. The Perth Mint programme has run for over 25 years across two full zodiac cycles, building a collector base that no bar series can match. For Australian investors, Perth Mint Lunar coins offer CGT advantages as Australian legal tender that no bar, including the Asahi Lunar, can replicate.

The 1 oz American Reserve Gold Bar, also from Asahi Refining, offers an interesting internal comparison. Both products come from the same refiner at the same purity. The American Reserve emphasises domestic US sourcing, while the Lunar series adds annual design variation. Buyers choosing between them are selecting a design preference rather than a different grade of gold. For those who simply want the lowest-premium LBMA gold bar without thematic elements, Asahi's standard branded bars provide the same refining quality at a lower entry point.