Saving in gold in Jordan: liras, bars or jewellery
If your goal is to preserve your savings rather than adornment, the way you buy decides how much you lose when you sell. The biggest differences come from workmanship and from the gap between the shop’s sell and buy prices.
Jewellery
Higher fees, from one to 20 JOD or more per gram depending on the piece, and they are not refunded on resale. Good if you will wear it, less suited to pure saving.
Liras
Low fees, about one to three dinars per coin, and a known weight, so they sell easily at any shop. The English lira counts as 8 g and the Rashadi as 7 g by syndicate convention. Good for saving small amounts regularly.
Bars
24k with a fee that shrinks, proportionally, as the weight grows, and a certificate. A bar of 10 g or more is the cheapest per gram of the three options. Good for larger amounts and long-term saving.
A worked example
The example uses fixed illustrative prices: suppose the 21k gram sells at 85 JOD and is bought back at 81 JOD. A 10 g bangle with a 4 JOD per gram fee costs 890 JOD. An English lira plus a quarter lira (10 g) with about 3 JOD in fees cost about 853 JOD. Sold immediately, each returns 810 JOD, a loss of 80 JOD on the bangle and 43 JOD on the liras.
Ease of selling
Liras are the easiest to sell because every shop knows their weight. Bars sell easily with their certificate. Jewellery is bought as scrap after deducting stones.
Storage and safety
Keep invoices and certificates separate from the gold. For large amounts, consider a bank safe-deposit box. Do not talk widely about the gold you own.
Zakat
If your savings reach 85 g of pure gold (about 97 g of 21k) and a lunar year has passed, zakat of 2.5% is due. The site’s gold zakat calculator works it out at today’s price.
When to buy
Nobody knows the best day to buy. Buying fixed amounts every month reduces the effect of timing. The forecast page shows statistical ranges for the coming days, but it is not a recommendation to buy or sell.