Heraeus Refinery: Gold Bars, Ownership and the Latest Changes
Heraeus Refinery and Heraeus gold are, for many investors in Germany, the very image of a gold bar: the name appears on bars from 1 g to 1 kg. Behind the brand is the Heraeus Group from Hanau, a family company with roots going back to 1851. In 2026 Heraeus split its precious metals business into two companies and stopped selling directly to private customers.
Who is Heraeus?
Heraeus goes back to Wilhelm Carl Heraeus, who took over his father’s Einhorn pharmacy in Hanau in 1851. He became known because in 1856 he succeeded in melting platinum in large quantities. Over the decades this grew into a broad technology group that today is active not only in precious metals but also in medical technology, quartz glass, sensors and electronics.
Heraeus Holding is wholly owned by the founding family, with around 200 family shareholders. This makes Heraeus one of the family companies with the highest revenue in Germany. The precious metals business is only one part of the group, but for gold investors it is the most visible one.
Who makes Heraeus gold bars?
Many buyers assume that Heraeus bars are cast in Hanau. That was true for a long time, but no longer applies to gold refining. After Heraeus took full ownership of the Swiss refinery Argor-Heraeus in 2017, most gold refining was moved to Switzerland. At its own request, the Hanau refinery was therefore moved from the LBMA Good Delivery List to the Former List at the end of 2018.
Within the group, Argor-Heraeus SA in Mendrisio and Heraeus Ltd in Hong Kong are on the current LBMA gold list. Since July 2026 the investment and luxury business has been concentrated at Argor-Heraeus. The gold in new Heraeus bars is therefore mostly refined in Switzerland, at an LBMA-listed company of the group.
Which Heraeus gold bars are there?
Heraeus offers gold bars in several forms, all with a fineness of 999.9. In Germany the 10 g and the 50 g Heraeus gold bars are especially sought after – both are minted sizes.
- Minted bars: 1 g, 5 g, 10 g, 20 g, 1 ounce, 50 g and 100 g
- Kinebar with a Kinegram hologram as protection against counterfeiting: 1 g, 2 g, 5 g, 10 g, 20 g and 1 ounce
- Gift bars: 2 g
- MultiDisc with 10 × 1 g and CombiBar with 20, 50 or 100 × 1 g that can be broken off
- Cast bars: 100 g, 250 g, 500 g and 1,000 g
What changed at Heraeus in 2026?
On 1 July 2026 Heraeus Precious Metals split its organisation into two independent operating companies. The company Heraeus Precious Metals, based in Hanau, takes over the industrial business, i.e. products, recycling and trading for industrial customers. The luxury and investment business, which includes investment bars, sits with Argor-Heraeus in Mendrisio. Both remain part of the Heraeus Group; according to Heraeus, no job cuts or site closures were planned.
On 9 September 2026 Heraeus announced that it would stop selling directly to private customers. This affects the Goldstore in Hanau, the online shop heraeus-gold.de and the purchase of scrap gold from private individuals. Business continues until 30 November 2026, and the wind-down is to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2027. Heraeus says it will inform customers with a gold savings plan or GoldDepot personally. Heraeus explains the step with a stronger focus on business with companies.
Also in 2026, Heraeus sold its rare earth magnet recycling business, Heraeus Remloy, to Mkango Resources. This sale has nothing to do with gold. As of November 2026 there had been no renaming or sale of the Heraeus bar brand.
What does this mean for owners of Heraeus bars?
For bars already bought, the reorganisation changes nothing: gold remains gold, and the bar keeps its weight, fineness and stamp. Heraeus bars continue to be traded through banks and precious metals dealers; only the manufacturer’s own shop is closing. When reselling, condition counts as with any bar: an undamaged, packaged bar with certificate can usually be sold without additional testing.
Anyone who has bought directly from Heraeus or held a savings plan there should wait for the company’s notices on the next steps and keep documents such as invoices and account statements.
Are older Heraeus bars from Hanau still Good Delivery?
Many investors own Heraeus bars that were still made in Hanau. The LBMA rules provide that if a refinery is moved to the Former List, the bars it produced before the date of the move can continue to count as Good Delivery. Exceptions are cases in which the move is based on breaches of the responsible sourcing rules or on sanctions.
That was not the case for Hanau: the refinery was moved at its own request because gold refining had been relocated to Switzerland. However, the LBMA reserves the right to remove bars from the list after a reasonable period if production at a site has ended. For private investors who own small bars, this hardly matters in practice, because the Good Delivery rules apply only to large trading bars.
How do you recognise a genuine Heraeus bar?
Minted Heraeus bars show the weight, fineness and manufacturer’s name; the Kinebar also has the Kinegram. A first step is to compare the dimensions with the manufacturer’s specifications: a 10 g Kinebar from the group measures 31.5 × 18.5 × 1.0 mm. If a bar of the correct weight differs noticeably, be careful. If in doubt, have the bar checked by a dealer or a refinery.
