Thirty seconds with the expert. Selling “direct to the refinery” means selling your metal to the establishment that analyses, melts and refines it itself, with no intermediary between you and the gold’s final destination. Gold & Silver Company (GSC) practises this direct buyback in Dottignies (Mouscron), on the French-Belgian border: free appraisal by spectrometry, before your eyes, no certificate required, and a personalised file from one kilogram of gold, with or without an appointment.
Your gold bar always ends up in a refinery
A gold bar never disappears. Wherever it is sold, it finishes its journey in the same place: a refinery. The only question is how many hands it passes through to get there.
The jeweller or the gold-buying counter that buys a bar sells it on to a wholesaler. The wholesaler sells it on to a refinery. Each link lives on its margin, and that margin is taken at the start of the chain, out of the price offered to you. With an intermediary, your bar begins a journey. At GSC, it arrives.
That is the whole logic of the Neo-foundry, the integrated refinery model designed by the house: the metal you bring enters directly into the circuit that analyses, melts and certifies it. Nobody to pay between you and the gold’s final destination.
The appraisal: the metal speaks, the papers stay silent
Everything happens before your eyes, and on camera. The scale shows the weight to the hundredth of a gram. The spectrometer returns the fineness a few minutes later. Between the two, your bar has never left your field of vision.
No certificate, no invoice, no melter’s mark is necessary. An inherited bar whose papers have disappeared, a foreign bar, a bar cast fifty years ago: all are treated in the same way. The analysis states the fineness, the scale states the weight, the price does the rest. That is the privilege of a refinery: it does not need to believe a document, it measures the metal itself.
Once the content is confirmed, the offer is aligned with the buyback price of the moment (BID). It is free, without obligation, and announced before any decision.
Price of the 1 kg gold bar, 999.9 ‰ fine, updated every 30 minutes
BID, we buy; ASK, we sell.
Prices shown for information only. The firm price is the one confirmed at our branch by our agents at the time of the transaction, after weighing and analysis of the metal.
Non-binding estimate.
Taxation
No tax is levied on the transaction. For non-residents of Belgium, French clients who are not Belgian tax residents first among them, selling gold in Belgium gives rise to no deduction: the Belgian State claims nothing on the operation.
The capital gains tax concerns Belgian tax residents only. In accordance with Belgian law, it is not withheld at source: Gold & Silver Company withholds nothing from the price paid to you. Investment gold is moreover exempt from VAT throughout the European Union.
Before an operation that engages an estate, transmission, succession, cross-border movement, our tax specialists explain the taxation applicable to your situation. French resident? Our dedicated page details your case.
Settlement
Every buyback is documented from end to end: weighing and analysis recorded, purchase invoice drawn up, transaction entered in our registers as an approved professional. The agreed price is paid in full, whatever the amount, and every euro of the transaction is traceable.
Settlement is made up to 500 euros in cash at our branch and the balance by bank transfer within 5 business days, to the account of your choice.
From one kilogram of gold, if needed, on request, we open a personalised file, with or without an appointment, and study alternative settlement solutions adapted to each situation: a staggered patrimonial settlement, contractual and traceable, an exchange of your bar for gold coins within a contractual and traceable framework, or full cash payment via our entity outside the European Union. These tailor-made solutions entail fees presented in full transparency before the operation. Our clients appreciate them precisely for the flexibility they offer.
When the situation calls for it, transmission, patrimonial movement, succession, our tax specialists provide a clear reading of the possible options.
Coming to us: security is part of the service
It is the question major clients ask on the telephone before any other: how to get here. Here are the answers, in black and white.
A private car park adjoins our building. A valet and escort service is available on simple request. From 100,000 euros of transported value, a private chauffeur can be placed at your disposal from the railway stations, your hotel or the airports. By car, the refinery is quickly accessible from the main roads, the stations and the airports of Lille, Brussels, Lesquin, Kortrijk and Marcq-en-Barœul.
And for those who prefer the first exchange to remain a conversation: the file can be opened by telephone or in writing, before any travel.
Coins: paid at their quotation, never at weight alone
Two Napoléons out of the same drawer are not always worth the same price. By weight, they are twins. At their quotation, they no longer are: year, mint, state of preservation, market demand. That is exactly what weighing alone will never see.
At GSC, every gold or silver coin passes through the hands of our numismatists before any valuation. The evaluation rests on the international references of the market. In the vast majority of cases, around 95% of the market, the coin is a common one: it follows the gold price plus its premium, and the offer comes within minutes. A sought-after, rarer coin joins the numismatic market. None is paid below the value of its fine gold. If a specimen justifies it, an auctioneer and numismatic experts receive on site, by appointment.
Never any acid here: the effigy, the strike, the edge and, where needed, the spectrometer authenticate a coin without altering it. A coin attacked with acid loses its numismatic value for good.
The house is approved by the Royal Mint of Belgium (MRB), entered in the Guarantee Register. A certificate, invoice or seal is not necessary to sell. An identity document is enough.
The taxation of coins. The rules are the same as for bars: no tax levied on the transaction, nothing for non-residents of Belgium, and the capital gains tax, reserved for Belgian tax residents, is not withheld at source. Investment gold coins are exempt from VAT throughout the European Union.
The settlement of coins. The agreed quotation is paid in full, with an invoice, every transaction entered in our registers: up to 500 euros in cash at our branch and the balance by bank transfer within 5 business days. For major accounts in gold coins, a personalised file is opened if needed, on request, with or without an appointment: a staggered patrimonial settlement, contractual and traceable, or an exchange of your coins for other investment holdings, small bars for example, within a contractual and traceable framework, with an invoice. The fees of these tailor-made solutions are presented in full transparency before the operation.
Coming with your coins. A large collection fits in a briefcase; its value can exceed that of a safe full of bars. The same arrangements apply: adjoining private car park, valet and escort on request, private chauffeur from 100,000 euros of transported value, from the railway stations, your hotel or the airports.
For the history, the effigies, the fine gold weights and the premium of the French coins: our guide to the Napoléons and French gold francs.
Exchanging a bar for coins: making a position divisible
A one-kilogram bar is sold in one go. Converted into investment coins, the same estate can be sold or passed on in small units, at the pace of your choosing, 20 Dollars, Krugerrand, Vreneli, Sovereign, subject to availability.
The bar is analysed, its value calculated at the real-time price, the exchange is formalised, each step documented, fees presented before the operation. The coins are handed over the same day, in capsules, with the dated and traceable purchase invoice.
The GSC memo
- Your gold bar always ends up in a refinery: at GSC, you enter it directly, with no intermediary paid out of your price.
- The appraisal is free, by spectrometry, before your eyes and on camera: no certificate is required, the metal is what counts.
- No tax levied on the transaction; the capital gains tax concerns Belgian tax residents only and is never withheld at source.
- Full settlement, invoiced and traceable: up to 500 euros in cash at our branch and the balance by bank transfer within 5 business days.
- From one kilogram of gold: a personalised file, if needed on request, with or without an appointment, contractual and traceable settlement solutions.
- A gold coin is paid at its quotation, never below its fine gold. And never any acid on a coin.
- Private car park, valet and escort on request, private chauffeur from 100,000 euros of transported value.
Frequently asked questions
Why sell your gold bar to a refinery rather than to a buyback counter?
Because every gold bar sold, wherever it is sold, ends up in a refinery. A buyback counter is an intermediary: it resells your metal further up the chain and lives on the spread. Selling directly to the refinery removes that journey and the margins that finance it. At Gold & Silver Company, an integrated refinery in Belgium, the bar is analysed by spectrometry, weighed before the client’s eyes and valued at the real-time buyback price, with no intermediate link taking its share along the way. The difference is not argued, it is observed: present the same bar at both establishments and compare the two figures.
How do you sell more than one kilogram of gold in Belgium?
From one kilogram of gold, GSC opens, if needed, on request, a personalised file, with or without an appointment. The metal is analysed and valued in-house, then the settlement is built with the client, each operation being invoiced and entered in our registers: up to 500 euros in cash at our branch and the balance by bank transfer within 5 business days, with alternative solutions studied for each situation, a staggered patrimonial settlement, contractual and traceable, an exchange for gold coins within a contractual and traceable framework, or full cash payment via our entity outside the European Union. These tailor-made solutions entail fees, presented in full transparency before the operation. When useful, our tax specialists provide a clear reading of the patrimonial options. The discretion of the file is the same at one kilogram as at fifty.
How do you bring your gold bars to us safely?
Gold & Silver Company has a private car park adjoining its building. A valet and escort service is available on request. From 100,000 euros of transported value, a private chauffeur can be placed at your disposal from the railway stations, your hotel or the airports. By car, GSC is quickly accessible from Lille, Brussels, Lesquin, Kortrijk and Marcq-en-Barœul. For major files, the first contact can be made by telephone or in writing: travel only comes once the framework is in place.
Do you buy old, foreign or uncertificated gold bars?
Yes, and without reservation of principle. A refinery does not need to believe a document: it measures the metal itself. An inherited bar without papers, a bar from a foreign melter, a bar cast decades ago, a small ingot from a family safe: each is weighed to the hundredth of a gram and analysed by spectrometry, before the client’s eyes. The measured fineness and the recorded weight make the value, at the day’s buyback price. The only legal requirement: your identity document, each transaction being entered in our registers as required by our status as a registered professional.
Can a gold bar be exchanged for gold coins?
Yes, it is one of the most requested patrimonial operations of the house. A one-kilogram bar is sold in a single transaction; converted into investment coins, the position becomes divisible: it can be sold or passed on in small units, at the pace its owner chooses. The bar is analysed at our branch, its value calculated at the real-time price, then converted into coins of your choice subject to availability, Napoléon, 20 Dollars, Vreneli, Sovereign… The exchange is contractual and traceable, the fees presented before the operation, and the coins handed over the same day, in capsules, with their invoice.
Is a gold coin paid by weight or at its quotation?
At its quotation, never at weight alone. Weighing values a coin as raw material; numismatic examination says what it is. At GSC, every coin passes through the hands of our numismatists: exact type, year, mint, state of preservation, documented rarity. A common coin is paid at the gold price plus its market premium; a sought-after specimen is directed towards a numismatic valuation, with an auctioneer and experts on site, by appointment. A coin is never paid below the value of its fine gold: melting acts as a natural floor. One reservation, only one: the damaged coin. Abrasive cleaning, an acid attack, soldering, the trace of an old mount or altered surfaces make it lose its premium and its numismatic interest; its value then comes back down to that floor, that of its fine gold, which the appraisal establishes with scale and spectrometer in support.