In order to know the meaning of the term ingot, it is necessary to proceed to discover its etymological origin. In this case, we can state that it derives from French, specifically from “lingot”.
The concept refers to a piece of raw metal , usually in the form of a bar or similar.
Gold , silver , platinum and iron are metals that can be found in bullion. To create these objects, the material is cast in a mold and ends up taking the format of this element.
An ingot, in short, is produced by heating the metallic substance beyond its melting point. In this way, the liquid metal can be poured into a mold. Once it cools, you can manipulate the ingot in question.
Cooling begins in the surface layer; Therefore, the center tends to retain a higher temperature than the edges. This causes solidification to lead to the development of a crystalline structure .
With the ingot already produced, it is possible to develop other processes . Extrusion or casting, for example, allow other types of metal objects to be generated.
Usually the ingots look like a pyramid with a rectangular base and truncated tip, or a parallelepiped . This makes stowage easier.
In addition to everything indicated, we can establish that there are three different types of ingots:
-The ingot of semiconductor material, which is used fundamentally in the electronics industry.
-The metallic ingot, which is used in the industrial field and is manufactured by heating the alloy above its melting point.
-The gold ingot, which has a high cost and can be found in 500 gram and 1 kilo formats.
Gold ingots , in this framework, are one of the most common ways to store this chemical element . Institutions such as central banks and other entities usually have gold reserves in bars of 400 troy ounces (equivalent to 12.4 kilograms), with a purity of at least 99.5%.
The price of a gold bar varies constantly. This value is determined from the game of supply and demand in the market .
When it comes to investing, there are many people who decide to do so in gold bullion. If they choose this alternative, it is because it brings with it a notable series of advantages: it is a limited resource, it is a value that does not depend on any government, it is considered a refuge value and its cost is never 0. There is to that We must add that it is within a homogeneous market.
On the contrary, there are those who reject investing in gold bars. Specifically, they decide this because they consider that investing in them brings with it a series of disadvantages. We are referring to the fact that bullion can be devalued significantly and also to the fact that they do not give interest of any kind, unlike other investment products such as stocks, for example.