A Dubai gold bar has a serial number. Which record should it match?

Identify the document the dealer is offering

Ask which document describes this particular piece. It could be an invoice naming the item, a manufacturer’s assay card, a packing list or an inventory statement from a custodian. Each has a different issuer and purpose. In a retail sale, ask the seller which document should carry the identifier if the invoice describes only a product type. An entry for one 100-gram bar could fit many pieces in a dealer’s tray.

LBMA’s wholesale commercial gold weight list provides a useful model for thinking about identifiers. It combines a serial with a brand code, gross weight, assay, fine weight and a manufacture date. A Dubai retail handover need not use that format. A small bar made by a listed refiner also differs from a wholesale bar eligible for London Good Delivery. Record the product actually being offered.

Source notes: [1] LBMA — Good Delivery Rules, Annex C, Weight Lists · [2] LBMA — Good Delivery FAQs

Stop when two characters disagree

Suppose a hypothetical retail package and the visible bar both carry EX-00471, while the seller’s accompanying itemized list shows EX-00417. The maker, stated weight and design agree. That apparent transposition is easy to explain, but the explanation is still a guess. Two similar bars might have been packed against each other’s paperwork. Correcting the list by hand would erase the clue that distinguishes those possibilities.

I would ask the issuer to reconcile the original list against its inventory, identify which piece belongs to this transaction and supply a dated corrected record if appropriate. I would retain the initial discrepancy alongside the response. Enter the serial as text when transcribing it so the spreadsheet preserves prefixes and leading zeros. Photograph visible identifiers if permitted and leave sealed packaging intact unless an agreed inspection calls for opening it.

Separate identity from the origin claim

Once the records agree, I can say that the identifiers visible at handover match the documents supplied. That says little on its own about what happened before refining. A mine-of-origin claim needs evidence linking incoming material to the claimed source and explaining how it was tracked through processing. A seller offering recycled gold would need documentation suited to that sourcing claim.

LBMA’s responsible sourcing guidance describes how refiners assess counterparties, transport routes and incoming shipments. It includes comparing physical shipments with transaction records. These checks have a wider scope than matching the serial on a finished bar. A retail buyer may never see the underlying files. If the seller supplies only a general statement about the brand, record that limitation explicitly.

Source notes: [3] LBMA — Responsible Gold Guidance v9, Identify and Assess Supply Chain Risks

Write down the narrow finding

My handover record would give the item identifier, issuer and date of each supporting document, unresolved discrepancies and the response received. If independent testing occurred, I would attach its report separately. This leaves a later buyer or custodian able to distinguish what someone saw at the counter from what a supplier represented about the gold’s past.