What is the current price of silver per ounce today?
The price of silver opened at $28.80 per ounce, as of 9 a.m. ET. That’s down 0.86% from the previous day and up 20.38% year to date.
The lowest trading price within the last day: $28.75 per ounce. The highest silver spot price in the last 24 hours: $29.43 per ounce.
Silver spot price
Silver’s spot price is the price at which the precious metal can be bought or sold right now. That’s different from futures contracts, where you secure silver for delivery at a later date.
XAG/USD represents silver’s spot price in U.S. dollars. The price in euros is XAG/EUR. For British pounds, it’s XAG/GBP. The market is active 24/7, so prices are constantly in flux.
Silver price chart
The chart below shows how the spot price of silver is trending over the year. The data is updated at 9 a.m. ET and doesn’t have intraday lows or highs.
Silver is up 20.38% over the last 12 months as of 9 a.m. ET. It reached a 52-week high of $32.51 on May 19, 2024. Its 52-week low was $20.69 on Oct. 2, 2023.
The spot price is the current market rate at which silver can be bought or sold for immediate payment and delivery. Spot prices for precious metals are expressed in troy ounces. One troy ounce equals 1.097 standard ounces. This unit of measurement is used almost exclusively to price precious metals.
Silver’s spot price is influenced by various factors and impacted by futures contracts.
Precious metals spot prices
Investors can trade four main precious metals via physical bullion, exchange-traded products or futures contracts. Gold, palladium and platinum spot prices are updated 24/7 in various currencies like silver spot prices.
Gold/silver ratio
One metric people follow closely is the gold/silver ratio. It’s the price of an ounce of gold divided by the price of an ounce of silver. As of 9 a.m. ET, that was 83.46.
The gold/silver ratio helps you understand how the value of gold and the value of silver fluctuate over time relative to each other.
A high ratio means gold is more expensive than silver. This preference for gold as a haven could suggest economic uncertainty. A low ratio means gold is becoming less expensive or silver is gaining value.
The gold/silver ratio can also help you identify buying or selling opportunities. For example, a historically high ratio may be a cue to buy silver, as the ratio could revert to its long-term average.
History of silver prices
Silver prices reached their highest peak in January 1980, at around $49.45 per troy ounce. Conversely, their lowest trough was in February 1993, at around $3.56 per troy ounce.
Silver prices fluctuate based on multiple variables, such as supply and demand, geopolitical events, currency strength, economic data, and changes in investment trends. The historical spot price of silver has been characterized by high volatility, with fluctuations over the decades.
1970 – 2005
In the mid-1970s, silver was valued at less than $10 per ounce. But it saw a sharp rise toward the end of the 1970s, peaking at over $49 per ounce by 1980.
Despite this sharp rise, the prices fell back down, and by the late 1980s, silver was trading under $10 per ounce again.
2006 – 2024
Silver prices didn’t surpass $10 per ounce until 2006.
The Great Recession marked another significant period for silver prices. In March 2008, the price nearly doubled to about $20 per ounce, potentially driven by the global banking crisis and subsequent economic measures like quantitative easing.
But this was followed by another sharp decline, bringing prices back to around $10 per ounce in October 2008. Silver experienced another historical climb, reaching above $45 per ounce in April 2011.
This history reflects the silver market’s deep drawdowns and high run-ups. Various factors, such as economic crises, market speculation and investor behavior, influence these market shifts.
Silver future prices
Key global exchanges facilitate nearly 24-hour silver trading. They exist in cities such as New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, London and Zurich. The COMEX, a branch of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, uses futures contracts to project silver prices. In this way, it plays an essential role in setting the silver spot price.
Futures contracts set delivery dates and delivery prices. They’re a popular way to speculate on the prices of commodities, including precious metals. That popularity means trading futures on exchanges is relatively easy.
Silver exchange-traded products
Silver exchange-traded products have a variety of structures. These include closed-end funds and grantor trusts.
ETPs typically operate by holding silver bullion in audited storage locations. They trade like stocks on exchanges. Investors buy shares that represent fractional ownership of the stored silver. Note that management fees and other expenses can impact returns.
Investing in silver
Investing in silver can be approached in several ways, each with unique benefits and considerations:
- Bullion. This direct method involves owning physical silver bars and coins. But investors must consider storage and insurance costs, dealer markups, and the bid-ask spread when buying and selling.
- ETPs. These are available in most brokerage accounts and offer a more accessible alternative. But investors face ongoing annual expense ratios and possible tracking errors relative to the spot price of silver. It’s important to note that redeeming shares for physical silver is only sometimes guaranteed.
- Futures.Futures allow for speculation or hedging against price movements. Trading these derivatives is done on margin, making it highly volatile and potentially unpredictable. It requires a thorough understanding of the market and its risks.
Is silver a good investment?
Whether silver is a good investment depends on an investor’s objectives, risk tolerance and the specific time considered. For some, silver can be a way to diversify a portfolio that already includes stocks and bonds.
But investors must be aware of several factors: the limitations in accessing silver in different forms, its high volatility, and the potential for extended negative or flat return periods.
It’s also important to understand that investments in silver can experience multiyear troughs and may not always align with broader market trends or inflationary pressures.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Gold is rarer than silver.
A precious metal’s rarity can be understood through its mass fraction. This indicates how much of the metal can be found per billion kilograms of Earth’s crust. Gold is present at four parts per billion, compared to 75 parts per billion for silver.
Silver’s effectiveness as a hedge against inflation is mixed and varies by time and location. Some studies indicate that silver does not correlate well with consumer price movements in the U.S. But there has been some correlation in the U.K. market over the long run.
But for a more reliable hedge against inflation, investors might consider other commodities like energy and agricultural products. These often have a more direct and consistent relationship with inflationary trends.
