20g B.H. Mayer Norse Gods Gold Bar

The 20g B.H. Mayer Norse Gods Gold Bar

This bar contains 20 grams of .9999 fine gold and comes from B.H. Mayer, the Munich minting house established in 1871. The mint is a fifth-generation family-owned operation and one of Germany's most respected private minting houses, even though it is less well-known internationally than the government mints. It built its reputation on high-relief and proof coinage, and is the mint behind the Cook Islands Norse Gods coin programme, the ultra-high-relief silver series that put Norse mythology on legal tender coinage from 2015. This bar carries the Norse Gods branding into gold bar form.

At 20 grams (0.643 troy ounces) the bar sits in the metric weight series that is native to European and Asian markets, between the small gram sizes and the 50g and 100g formats. The weight is close enough to half a troy ounce that it competes for the same budget bracket as 1/2 oz coins and bars, while containing 29% more gold than a half-ounce piece. Premiums at this weight typically land between those of 1 oz bars and the small 1g to 5g bars, which can carry steep per-gram costs.

The practical appeal is a recognised German mint name on a mid-sized gold bar with a thematic design link, in a weight class that European dealers handle routinely. A 20g bar is compact, roughly credit-card sized when sealed in an assay card, and stores a meaningful amount of gold in a format that remains accessible to buy and straightforward to sell within metric-denominated markets.

20g Norse Gods Gold Bar Specifications

The 20 gram weight is part of the standard gram-denominated bar ladder (1g, 2.5g, 5g, 10g, 20g, 50g, 100g, 250g, 500g, 1kg) used by European refiners. Bars at this weight are typically supplied in sealed assay packaging carrying the weight and purity certification, and keeping that packaging intact matters: a bar removed from its assay card may need re-assaying before resale, which adds cost and friction. At .9999 fineness the bar comfortably exceeds the 995 minimum that defines investment gold in the UK and EU and the 99.5% threshold used for IRA eligibility in the US, Canada's GST/HST exemption, and the GST exemptions in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.

Tax Treatment of a 20g .9999 Gold Bar

Gold bars at this purity qualify as investment gold almost everywhere, which keeps purchase taxes at zero in most of the countries this site covers.

• UK: VAT-exempt as investment gold (995+ fineness). Not CGT-exempt, since only UK legal tender coins carry that exemption; gains above the £3,000 annual allowance are taxable at 18-24% depending on income.
• US: Most states exempt bullion bars from sales tax. Long-term gains are taxed at the collectibles rate of up to 28%. IRA eligibility requires 99.5%+ purity from an accredited refiner with approved-depository storage.
• EU: VAT-exempt at 995+ purity. Capital gains rules vary by country; Germany taxes nothing on bars held over one year.
• Canada: GST/HST exempt at 99.5%+ purity.
• Australia: GST-free as investment-grade gold (99.5%+ purity).
• New Zealand: GST-exempt at 99.5%+ purity.
• Singapore: 0% GST under the Investment Precious Metals scheme, and no capital gains tax.
• Hong Kong: No sales tax, no import duty, no capital gains tax.

For UK buyers the bar-versus-coin question is the one to weigh: bars are VAT-efficient on purchase but CGT-liable on sale, so for large expected gains a CGT-exempt UK legal tender coin can work out cheaper over the full holding period despite higher purchase premiums.

Norse Gods Bar vs PAMP, Valcambi, and Argor-Heraeus at 20g

The 20g weight class is dominated by the big Swiss refiners. The PAMP Suisse Fortuna 20g is one of the most recognised small gold bars globally, and that recognition commands a modest brand premium over generic refiner bars. Valcambi typically offers among the tightest premiums at this weight from a Swiss refiner, and Argor-Heraeus produces both classic minted bars and its Kinebar line with a holographic security feature. All three are LBMA-accredited names with universal dealer acceptance, which is the strongest card a gold bar can hold at resale.

B.H. Mayer's offer is different. It is a design-led bar from a historic German private mint rather than a commodity bar from a refinery, with the Norse Gods theme connecting it to the mint's Cook Islands coin programme. Buyers choosing it are paying for the design and the mint's craft reputation rather than the lowest possible cost per gram. For pure accumulation, the mainstream Swiss bars at 20g, or a step up to 50g gold bars where per-gram premiums fall further, will deliver more gold for the money.

Against half-ounce sovereign mint coins, the 20g format holds a cost advantage: metric bars from the major refiners typically carry lower premiums than sovereign half-ounce coins in the same budget bracket, and the 20g bar contains more gold. The coin's counterargument is liquidity in troy-ounce markets like the US, Canada, and Australia, where ounce-denominated products dominate retail trade and metric bars are less mainstream.