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Gold Expert
Credit Suisse gold bars are gold bars bearing the brand of Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank that owned all or part of the Valcambi refinery in Balerna, Switzerland, from 1967 until 2003. Credit Suisse no longer trades as an independent company: UBS completed its acquisition in June 2023. A bar with the Credit Suisse name is still valued like any other gold bar, by its weight and fineness against the live gold price, and checked the same way before anyone pays for it.
This guide covers who made the bars, what the marks on them mean, how the silver bars fit in, and what to check before buying or selling one. As of October 2026, The Bullion Bank does not list Credit Suisse bars for sale; we explain below what we list instead and how we handle one at the counter.
Who Made Credit Suisse Bars
From the 1960s, bars with the Credit Suisse name were tied to Valcambi, a refinery in southern Switzerland that the bank owned outright for more than twenty years. Valcambi's own published history sets out the relationship, and it is the most detailed primary account we found:
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1961 | Five Swiss investors establish Valori & Cambi to build a precious metals refinery in Balerna. In its early years, Credit Suisse lends gold to the plant |
| 1965 | The refinery receives its melter's license and the "Essayeur Fondeur" hallmark |
| 1967 | Credit Suisse acquires 50% of Valcambi |
| 1968 | Credit Suisse acquires a further 30%. Valcambi gains LBMA Good Delivery status for gold and silver |
| 1974 | The "CS brand" is accepted for gold on COMEX |
| 1980 | Valcambi becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of the bank |
| 1982 | The "CS brand" is accepted for gold on TOCOM in Tokyo |
| 2001 | In October, Credit Suisse withdraws from much of its bullion business |
| 2003 | Valcambi is sold to European Gold Refineries, owned by Newmont Mining and Swiss investors |
| 2015 | Global Gold Refineries acquires European Gold Refineries; Valcambi is now part of a group linked to Rajesh Exports |
| 2023 | UBS completes its acquisition of Credit Suisse on 12 June |
Valcambi's history describes the early arrangement plainly: the bank lent the refinery 200 kg of gold each morning and got it back each evening as new kilo bars. After the 2003 sale, the same account says Credit Suisse kept financing the refinery. It does not say how long bars carrying the bank's name continued to be produced, and we found no statement from Valcambi or UBS on whether any are made today.
Valcambi's history notes that the refinery gained LBMA Good Delivery status for both gold and silver in 1968, the same year Credit Suisse raised its stake to 80%. The LBMA's current gold Good Delivery list still includes Valcambi SA, Balerna, with a listing date of 20 May 1968, checked on 26 October 2026. Keep the scope in mind: Good Delivery is a standard for large wholesale bars, 350 to 430 oz of fine gold or 900 to 1,050 oz of silver on Valcambi's own cast bar specifications. It tells you the refiner meets the LBMA's standards, not that a particular small bar has been individually certified.
What Changed When UBS Took Over Credit Suisse
The UBS announcement of 12 June 2023 confirmed that Credit Suisse Group AG had been merged into UBS Group AG, and that Credit Suisse AG would continue for a time as a separate parent bank pending further integration. That is the point at which the Credit Suisse name stopped belonging to an independent firm.
For someone holding a bar, the takeover does not change the metal. The weight and fineness stamped on it are what they always were, and its value still follows the gold price. Whether new bars carry the Credit Suisse name is the open question noted above.
Reading the Marks on a Swiss Gold Bar
A Swiss gold bar is a melt product, meaning metal melted and formed into a bar for trade, and Switzerland regulates it closely. The Swiss Federal Office for Customs and Border Security explains that under the Precious Metals Control Act, manufacturing melt products and testing their fineness are activities that require a license.
On a Credit Suisse bar, look for these:
- The Credit Suisse name or logo, which tells you the brand, not the purity
- The weight, in grams or troy ounces
- The fineness, written as parts per thousand. 999.9 means 99.99% pure gold
- A serial number, which should match any certificate or card that comes with the bar
- A melter-assayer mark, such as the "Essayeur Fondeur" hallmark Valcambi's history records receiving in 1965
Fineness is the figure that sets value. The fine gold in a bar is its weight multiplied by its fineness, and any offer on it starts from that figure and the live gold price. The name sets nothing on its own.
Minted and Cast Bars
Swiss bars, Credit Suisse among them, generally come in two forms. Valcambi's product pages describe a cast bar as formed by pouring liquid gold into a mold, which is why every cast bar is a little different. Valcambi describes its minted bars as cut from specially prepared rolled metal sheets, which is why their edges and faces are uniform from piece to piece.
Valcambi's current minted bar range starts at 1 g, and sizes from 1 g to 100 g are packed in a blister with a serial-numbered certificate. A Credit Suisse bar you are offered may be decades older than any current specification, so don't judge it by its packaging style. Check that the serial number on the bar matches any certificate, and, if the bar came sealed, that the seal is intact.
Some Credit Suisse bars are offered as "Liberty" bars, with a Statue of Liberty design on one face; we found no Credit Suisse, Valcambi or UBS page describing that design. Whatever the face shows, a 10 g bar at 999.9 holds the same fine gold as a plain 10 g bar at 999.9, and it is weighed, tested and priced the same way.
Silver Bars With the Credit Suisse Name
If you are offered a silver bar with the Credit Suisse name, read it the same way as a gold one: name, weight, fineness, serial number. The fineness is stamped the same way, so 999 means 99.9% pure silver, and that figure, not the brand, decides how much silver you own. We found no Valcambi or UBS page listing Credit Suisse silver bar sizes.
Two differences from gold matter. Silver is far cheaper per ounce, so a silver bar's premium over its metal tends to be a larger share of the price. And silver tarnishes over time, so judge an older silver bar by its marks and its weight rather than its color.
Checking a Branded Bar Before You Buy or Sell
The same checks apply to a Credit Suisse bar as to any branded bar, and they are worth doing whether you are buying one privately or bringing one in to sell.
- Weigh it. The weight should match the stamp. A short weight is a reason to stop and ask questions
- Match the serial number. The number on the bar and the number on any card or certificate should agree
- Test the metal. X-ray fluorescence, or XRF, reads the metals at the surface of a bar. Our guide to what XRF testing measures and where it has limits explains why a surface reading is one step, not the whole answer
- Look at the edges and the finish. On a minted bar, the strike should be crisp and even
Price is the last check, and it works the same for every brand. A bar's price is the value of its fine metal plus a premium, and an offer to buy it is that value minus a spread. Our guide to spot prices, premiums and dealer spreads walks through how each number is built. Whether a dealer pays more or less for the Credit Suisse name than for a current brand is that dealer's decision, so ask how any offer is calculated.
Selling a Credit Suisse Bar in Virginia
In Virginia, a gold bar is treated differently from a gold coin under the state's precious metals dealer law. Va. Code § 54.1-4100 defines "precious metals" as any item except coins, and defines a coin as metal stamped by authority of a government and having a fixed value as money. A Credit Suisse bar meets neither part of the coin definition, so on a plain reading of that section its sale to a dealer falls under the chapter, subject to the exceptions the same section lists in its definition of a dealer.
In practice, that is one reason the counter asks for identification when you sell a bar. What the chapter requires, from records to the holding period, is set out in our guide to what Virginia law requires when you sell gold.
Credit Suisse Bars at The Bullion Bank
We don't list Credit Suisse bars for sale as of October 2026. For a Swiss bar from the refinery the bank once owned, we list Valcambi minted gold bars, and PAMP Suisse is the other Swiss line we carry. Our article on whether PAMP Suisse bars are worth the premium explains what that premium pays for compared with a generic LBMA bar.
If you already own a Credit Suisse bar, our cash for gold page explains how we test with XRF in front of you, make a same-day offer against live market prices, and pay the same day if you accept. On whether you need an appointment, the page says: "No. Walk-ins are welcome during normal business hours."
This article is educational and reflects general information about precious metals and collectible coins. It is not investment, tax or legal advice, and The Bullion Bank is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer or tax professional. Metal prices fluctuate and past performance does not indicate future results. Consult a qualified professional about your own situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who made Credit Suisse gold bars?
Bars with the Credit Suisse name were closely tied to Valcambi, the refinery in Balerna, Switzerland, that Credit Suisse owned in whole or in part from 1967 until 2003. Valcambi's published history lists the "CS brand" among its gold registrations on COMEX in 1974 and on TOCOM in 1982. Credit Suisse has not owned Valcambi since the 2003 sale.
Are Credit Suisse gold bars still being made?
We found no statement from Valcambi or UBS on whether new bars carrying the Credit Suisse name are produced today. UBS completed its acquisition of Credit Suisse on 12 June 2023. Bars already in the market are valued by their weight and fineness like any other gold bar.
Does The Bullion Bank buy Credit Suisse bars?
Our cash for gold page says we buy gold and silver bars, and that we test items with XRF in front of you before a same-day offer. Under Va. Code § 54.1-4100 a bar is not a coin, so Virginia's dealer law generally applies when one is sold to a dealer; the page also says photo ID is typically required for all transactions.
Is a Credit Suisse silver bar worth more than other silver bars?
Its silver content is worth exactly what the same weight and fineness of any silver is worth. Any extra a buyer pays for the Credit Suisse name is a premium that depends on demand on the day, not on the metal. Check the weight, the fineness mark and the serial number before agreeing on a price.
Bring a Credit Suisse Bar to Chantilly or Vienna
We've been buying and selling precious metals in Northern Virginia since 2008, and we test bars with XRF in front of you. Bring the bar and any certificate that came with it.
Chantilly
The Bullion Bank
4086 Airline Pkwy
Chantilly, VA 20151
(703) 705-5151
Mon-Fri 11:00-18:00, Sat 11:00-17:00, Sun closed
Vienna
The Bullion Bank
131 Maple Ave W
Vienna, VA 22180
(703) 705-5252
Mon-Fri 11:00-18:00, Sat 11:00-17:00, Sun closed
