LBMA Good Delivery
Definition
LBMA Good Delivery is the wholesale accreditation standard set by the London Bullion Market Association for large gold and silver bars. It defines the refiners, weights, and purity accepted for settlement in the professional market.
Good Delivery is the benchmark that tells wholesale buyers a bar meets a trusted, internationally recognized specification.
Why it matters
Bars from refiners on the LBMA Good Delivery List are accepted across major vaults and exchanges without re-testing, which supports liquidity and confidence. A bar tied to an accredited refiner is generally easier to sell and tends to trade with a lower premium than an unknown brand.
In practice
The standard mainly governs large wholesale bars, such as the roughly 400-ounce gold bar held in institutional vaults. Smaller retail bars are not themselves Good Delivery, but buyers still favor brands whose refiners hold LBMA accreditation, since that signals consistent purity and weight.
Common confusion
LBMA accreditation describes the refiner and the wholesale bar standard, not every coin or small bar in a shop. A one-ounce bar is not a Good Delivery bar, though it may come from an LBMA-listed refiner.