Gold Bar (Dead Money)

 is a miscellaneous item in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Dead Money. This item is currently the second most valuable item in Fallout: New Vegas, being surpassed in value only by the unique Tesla-Beaton prototype. All 37 Gold bars add up to a total of 390,239 Caps value but also 1295 weight. They can be akward to sell for their full value, some of the best options are listed below.

Locations
You can find 37 Gold bars in the Sierra Madre Casino Vault, accessible only during Heist of the Centuries, but it is very difficult to leave with all 37 gold bars due to its tremendous weight, 35 pounds each. It is, however, possible to get all of them even without very high skills (except for speech, which may be critical), even on the console version- see method 7.
 * Method 1: To do so, grab all of the gold bars and activate the console. After convincing Elijah to come down face to face (Must have 75 speech, barter, repair, science, sneak, lockpick or explosives), you must immediately exit the vault and continue straight up the stairs, into the tunnel, then follow that all the way around into the area where you first came down. Drop the gold then immediately go back up so you are not trapped inside the area. After this is done, go through the sequence (killing Elijah, stepping inside of the vault and deactivating the security), then sprint through the maze, and as you go down by the gold, pick it up and continue out before exploding. You cannot grab Gold bars and move them.


 * Method 2: provided you have at least 1 Turbo, a good sneak skill (or a Stealth Boy) and a LOT of patience. Before the sequence starts put the gold bars as close as you can to the vault door when you start the sequence quickly open the door and proceed to run ahead a few steps, turn around pick up gold, turn forward, dropping the gold again taking the same route (the fastest) you would take if trying for the achievement. having Turbo is a must for at least the last stretch before the blue energy doors close on you. having extra turbo will make the whole process easier. You must not be encumbered except for when you are carrying the bars.


 * Method 3: While Father Elijah is on the way down, you have time to make it to the closest shielded door to the vault (the one leading most directly to the elevator and also the one Father Elijah comes through on his way in) even if you're over-encumbered.  If you are crouching and hidden next to the door when Father Elijah opens it to come through, the door will launch you through the door to the elevator side, and Father Elijah will be trapped on the vault side.  The only problem with this glitch is that it does not trigger either the quest goal to kill or trap Father Elijah.  The only way to use the elevator is to have explosives planted on the inside of the shielded door before you lag through to kill Father Elijah when the switch happens.  It is possible to use three frag mines and one of those ghost people gas tanks on very easy to kill him.  Make a save before the switch because it may require several attempts to successfully kill Father Elijah with the explosives, and it is impossible to damage him after the glitch.  If done successfully, you will be able to escape back to the fountain with all of the items from the vault and return to the Mojave.


 * Method 4: This is similar to Method 3. After speaking with Father Elijah and convincing him to speak/meet you, grab all the gold bars before or after activating the terminal, walk up to the blue laser gate (he should be inside with the laser gate on and the turrets attacking you), continually walk backwards and destroy three turrets. When Father Elijah is put out, you are knocked in.  Wait for him to walk up next to the window and throw out gas bombs.


 * Method 5: This will probably take a good amount of tries (and probably a lot of luck). First off, pick up all of the gold bars, and drop them as one unit by the door. Also, make sure to take off your armor and unequip your weapon. Talk to Father Elijah and convince him to meet you face to face. Immediately turn around and as you're walking towards the door and make a save. Immediately open the door, and as it's opening, pick up the gold bars. Walk straight out and into the central building, taking an immediate right and then left once inside. Go to the back until you reach a path leading into Elijah's room and get inside before the shielded doors appear. You will need to do some sneaking as you're walking, but I've seen different amounts of it mixed in. I recommend either sneaking once you're inside the middle structure all the way to the end, or once you reach the final back walkway, as these have both gotten me the closest to the door. If he activates the doors, just reload your last save. Once you make it, just go up the elevator, and profit massively.
 * Method 6: This method is quite simple, and you can get all 37 gold bars; all you need is a Stealth Boy. When you finish the dialogue option with Elijah, walk out the door and close it behind you. Activate the Stealth Boy, walk forward and up the stairs, turn right and wait until Elijah walks straight towards the door. Sneak down the stairs and make an immediate left past the security door. Congratulations: You just walked away with 370,000 caps.


 * Method 7: With this method, you will take a significant amount of damage, but you can still make it out in time (will be much easier if you keep Dean and Charlotte alive because they help). First, convince Father Elijah to go to the vault with a speech of 75. Once he agrees, grab all 37 gold bars and open the door to leave the vault. You should be able to see him and once he sees you the security activates. Once the turrets begin to attack you, walk your way to the blue barrier in front of Father Elijah and drop all 37 gold bars sticking as close to the barrier as possible; if done correctly, one brick should fall behind the barrier next to Father Elijah which holds all 37. As soon as you complete this run back to the vault and disable the security, reassign their target parameters or destroy the turret generator and kill Father Elijah. Once he is dead, your collar slowly begins to beep, so run back to the elevator and pick up the gold bars before leaving; you should have about 2-3 seconds left before the collar goes off and make it to the elevator in time!


 * Method 8: You will need to have good sneaking skills for this to work, the sneaking magazine and assasin suit should help. After grabbing all the gold and get Elijah to come to the vault, walk out of the vault and hide(crouch) behind the electric generator to your right. Make sure that the generator blocks Elijah's line of sight and walk slowly around generator counter-clockwise. You should be in "hide" status all this time and as long as you don't get too close to the steps leading to the exit Elijah came from, the alarm will not go off. When Elijah is close to the door, start moving toward the exit, it should close just as you move past it and it should be smooth sailing from there.

Selling Them
You will most likely have to wait 3 days or so between each bar sold for the the vendors to get more caps. Most vendor's will come close but still not have enough caps to cover the full value of a Gold Bar, you can work around this by either using them to buy things you need so they have more caps or taking items on top of the caps to cover you losses.
 * The Hologram Vendors in the Sierra Madre are the first option. You will have to sell the Gold Bars for weightless Pre-War money which can then be sold to various vendors in the Mojave, each Hologram has 2500. You will be able to sell 3 Gold Bars to each vendor for all their Pre-War money plus a mixture of whatever else they have to make up the value of the Gold Bars. Bear in mind that you will only be able to this before leaving the Sierra Madre as you can't return.


 * The Gun Runners are another option, you can get around 8000 caps every 3 days.


 * The Quartermaster in the Brotherhood of Steel Bunker, Knight Torres is another good place to go, she often has 8000 Caps and above.


 * Daniel Contreras the NCR Supply Merchant in Camp McCarran also usualy has 8000 Caps and above.