Our Sources
Every number on this site comes either from market data or from a primary source: a regulator, an exchange, a mint or a tax authority. This page lists them, what we take from each, and how often we check it. Sources are named rather than linked; you can find each one by searching for the name shown.
Market data
| Data | Source | Refreshed |
|---|---|---|
| Gold, silver, platinum, palladium (live) | Real-time spot prices (XAU, XAG, XPT, XPD) from a third-party market data feed | About every 30 seconds; usually less than a minute old |
| Daily change and day range | COMEX and NYMEX front-month futures (GC, SI, PL, PA), CME Group | About every 30 seconds |
| Copper, ETFs, mining stocks, dollar index, 10-year yield | Exchange quotes through the same market data feed | About every 5 minutes |
| Exchange rates (22 currencies) | Interbank market rates through the same feed | About every 10 minutes |
| Daily closing prices since 2000 | Daily settlement history of the front-month contracts | Twice a day |
Standards, specifications and rules
| Topic | Primary source | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Karat marks, gold-filled and plated jewelry | FTC Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries (16 CFR Part 23); National Gold and Silver Stamping Act | ftc.gov, ecfr.gov |
| Futures contracts and trading hours | CME Group contract specifications for GC, MGC, SI, PL and PA | cmegroup.com |
| London benchmark prices | LBMA Gold Price and LBMA Silver Price rules | lbma.org.uk |
| U.S. coin specifications | United States Mint coin specifications | usmint.gov |
| World coin specifications | Royal Canadian Mint, South African Mint, The Royal Mint, Banco de México, The Perth Mint | Each mint’s official website |
| Tax on selling gold | IRS rules on collectibles (28% maximum long-term rate) and broker reporting | irs.gov |
| Sales tax on bullion | Each state’s revenue department and statutes; verification date shown on the page | State revenue department websites |
| Monetary policy and economic data | Federal Reserve (FOMC statements), Bureau of Labor Statistics (CPI, jobs report), Bureau of Economic Analysis (PCE) | federalreserve.gov, bls.gov, bea.gov |
| Gold supply, demand and reserves | World Gold Council statistics, IMF International Financial Statistics | gold.org, imf.org |
| Country rules (hallmarking, duties, VAT/GST) | National regulators and tax authorities named on each country page, e.g. the Bureau of Indian Standards | Official government websites |
How sources are checked
- Specifications and legal rules are checked against the primary source before a page is published, and again when the rule is known to change.
- Figures we cannot tie to a primary source or a dated record are left out rather than estimated.
- Corrections are recorded on the corrections log, and larger changes on the changelog.
See also how we calculate prices and our editorial standards.