Same metal, three shapes, three very different objects. Here is how to tell them apart.
All physical bullion is refined metal, but the shape it takes changes what it is: legally, practically, and emotionally. Here is the full anatomy of the three forms, so you can choose on purpose.
A bar is refined metal in rectangular form, stamped with weight, purity, and the refiner’s hallmark, running from one-gram wafers through the popular one-ounce, ten-ounce, and kilo sizes up to the 400-ounce giants of institutional vaults. Larger bars generally carry the lowest fabrication cost per ounce, which is their entire argument: maximum metal, minimum ornament. Reputable refiners’ hallmarks and, on many modern bars, sealed assay cards carry the trust.
A round is bullion in coin form struck by a private mint. It carries no face value, no government backing, and no legal-tender status; it is simply silver or gold in a convenient, stackable disc, often with handsome generic designs and typically priced between bars and sovereign coins. Rounds answer a simple desire: coin-shaped metal without the sovereign premium.
A coin, properly speaking, is struck by a government mint and carries legal-tender status: the American Eagle, the Canadian Maple Leaf, the Krugerrand, the Britannia. The face value is symbolic, a one-ounce Silver Eagle says one dollar, but the government guarantee of weight and purity is not, and neither is worldwide recognition at a glance. That combination, plus collectible design, is why sovereign coins generally top the premium ladder, a family we tour in World Bullion Coins 101.
The practical trade-offs are honest ones. Bars maximize metal per dollar and minimize recognition. Rounds split the difference. Coins cost the most per ounce and are the easiest objects on earth to sell, gift, or hand to a skeptic. Many collectors hold all three, letting each shape do the job it is built for, and every one of them obeys the same two-line arithmetic of weight times fineness.