Precious Metals Prices Today

The four metals compared by trading specs

Precious metal prices for gold, silver, platinum and palladium are all quoted in U.S. dollars per troy ounce of pure metal, which is 31.1035 grams. Each trades on its own futures contract and has its own U.S. Mint bullion coin.

Reading the codes

The three-letter codes are ISO 4217 currency codes. The “X” marks something that is not a national currency, and the rest comes from the chemical symbol: Au for gold, Ag for silver, Pt for platinum, Pd for palladium. So XAU/USD means the price of one troy ounce of gold in dollars, and the same pattern holds for the others.

Purity of each Mint bullion coin

The U.S. Mint’s silver, platinum and palladium Eagles are struck from nearly pure metal: .999 fine for silver and .9995 for platinum and palladium. The American Gold Eagle is different. It is 22 karat, alloyed with silver and copper for durability, and weighs more than a troy ounce in total so that it still contains one full ounce of gold. The American Gold Buffalo, by contrast, is .9999 fine. When you compare a coin with spot, always use its gold, silver or platinum content, not its gross weight.

Why copper sits in the table

Copper, shown above for reference, is a base metal quoted per pound, with COMEX contracts of 25,000 pounds. Many people watch it as a gauge of industrial activity, which also drives silver, platinum and palladium.

What each metal’s price depends on

The four metals share a unit and a trading clock, but their prices answer to different buyers. That is why they can move in opposite directions on the same day.

Why gold is the anchor

Gold has the deepest market and the largest investment demand, so it reacts most to interest rates, the dollar and financial stress. The other three add industrial cycles on top of that. The gold price today page tracks that anchor metal in detail.

What makes a metal “precious”

• It is rare in the earth’s crust and costly to mine or refine.
• It resists corrosion, which is why gold coins recovered from shipwrecks are still readable.
• It trades in a market deep enough to have a daily benchmark price.

Platinum and palladium belong to the platinum group metals, six related elements that also include rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium. Rhodium, used in catalytic converters, has at times been the most expensive of all, but it trades in a thin dealer market with no U.S. Mint coin, so it isn’t shown here.

From a spot quote to the cost of precious metals

Spot is the starting point. What you actually pay for a coin or bar is built up from it in a few steps.

1. Find the metal’s spot price in the table above.
2. Multiply by the fine weight of the coin or bar in troy ounces.
3. Add the seller’s premium, which varies by product and size.
4. Add state sales tax where it applies.

Worked example with example prices

Using example prices of $30 per ounce for silver and $1,000 for platinum, ten one-ounce silver rounds contain $300 of metal and one platinum coin contains $1,000. A 10% premium would add $30 and $100 respectively. Premiums in practice differ by metal and product, so the same percentage rarely applies to both. For silver specifically, the silver price today page shows purity and coin values.

Checking a quote from a seller

• Confirm the fine weight, not just the gross weight, of the coin or bar.
• Ask whether the price includes shipping, insurance and any card or wire fee.
• Compare the premium per ounce across two or three product sizes before choosing one.

Why premiums differ by metal

Silver coins cost nearly as much to make as gold coins but hold far less value, so their premium as a percentage is higher. Platinum and palladium have fewer dealers and thinner wholesale markets, which widens spreads. Gold, the most traded, usually has the tightest.

Per gram and per kilogram

Every ounce price converts the same way. Divide by 31.1035 for a gram price, or multiply by 32.1507 for a kilogram price. A kilogram bar of silver or gold is sold as 32.15 troy ounces of metal, which is why kilo prices look oddly large next to ounce quotes.

Trading hours

All four metals trade electronically on CME Group’s platform on nearly the same schedule, from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon, Eastern time, with a short daily break. Platinum and palladium see less volume overnight, so their quotes can jump more when a large order arrives in a quiet hour. The market hours page covers holidays and session breaks.

Sales tax

States treat bullion differently. Some exempt all four metals, some exempt only gold and silver, and some tax everything. Our sales tax by state guide lists the rules.

Taxes and terms across the metals

Storage and insurance

Physical metal needs somewhere safe to live. A home safe keeps it close but may not be covered by a standard homeowner’s policy beyond a small limit, so check the policy’s limits for bullion and coins. Bank safe deposit boxes are generally not insured by the FDIC, because they hold property, not deposits. Private depositories charge a yearly fee, usually based on value.

Selling back

When you sell, a dealer pays the bid, which sits below spot, and the gap between bid and ask is usually wider for platinum and palladium than for gold. Coins recognized everywhere, such as the Mint’s Eagles, tend to be easiest to sell in any of the four metals. Odd-sized bars from little-known makers may need testing before a buyer will pay close to spot.

Federal tax on gains

The IRS treats physical gold, silver, platinum and palladium as collectibles. Long-term gains on bullion coins and bars are taxed at your ordinary rate up to a maximum of 28%. Shares of ETFs that hold physical metal are generally treated the same way. Short-term gains, on metal held a year or less, are taxed as ordinary income.

Glossary

• Spot price: the current market price for one troy ounce of pure metal for prompt delivery.
• Troy ounce: 31.1035 grams, about 9.7% heavier than the ounce on a kitchen scale.
• Fineness: purity in parts per thousand, such as .999 for fine silver or 950 for platinum jewelry.
• Premium: the amount above melt value charged for a coin or bar.
• Bid and ask: the price a dealer pays and the price it charges.

For each metal in depth, see gold and silver prices with the ratio between them.

Industrial metals have their own pages: platinum price today covers jewelry stamps and diesel demand.

The palladium price page covers catalytic converters and Russian supply.