What is the current price of silver today?
The price of silver opened at $29.85 per ounce, as of 9 a.m. ET. That’s down 1.06% from the previous day’s silver price per ounce and up 24.74% since the beginning of the year.
The lowest trading price within the last day: $29.49 per ounce. The highest silver spot price in the last 24 hours: $31.55 per ounce.
Silver spot price
The spot silver price reflects what traders buy and sell silver for immediately, or on the spot. In contrast, the futures price reflects the price for silver delivered in later months.
The spot price for silver in the foreign exchange market is denoted as XAG/USD. Traders buy and sell silver 24/7 globally, so its price fluctuates constantly.
The price of XAG/USD reflects the value of one ounce of silver in U.S. dollars, and it is traded like traditional currency pairs. Because silver trades occur globally, investors can also track the spot price of silver in other currencies, such as XAG/EUR for euros and XAG/GBP for British pounds.
12-month silver price chart
The chart below shows how the spot price of silver is trending over the year.
Silver is up 24.74% since the beginning of the year, as of 9 a.m. The 52-week high reached $32.51 on May 19, 2024, and the 52-week low dropped to $20.69 on Oct. 2, 2023.
The spot price of silver represents the current market rate at which silver can be exchanged and immediately delivered. But similar to gold, silver prices can be provided in troy ounces, grams and kilograms. Notably, a troy ounce, the standard unit for quoting silver prices, is slightly heavier than a standard ounce, with one troy ounce equaling 31.103 grams or 1.097 ounces.
The worldwide silver spot price calculation is a complex process, influenced by several factors and majorly impacted by futures contracts rather than physical silver trading.
Precious metals prices
Silver is one of four main precious metals investors can trade via physical bullion, exchange-traded products or futures contracts. Gold, palladium and platinum spot prices are also updated 24/7 in a variety of currencies.
Gold/silver ratio
The gold/silver ratio is the price of an ounce of gold divided by the price of silver per ounce. As of today, the gold/silver price ratio is 79.00.
The gold/silver ratio is significant because it is a tool for comparing the relative values of these two precious metals over time. This ratio helps investors and traders understand how the value of gold and silver fluctuates compared to each other.
The high ratio suggests that gold is more expensive than silver, indicating a market preference for gold as a haven, which can mean economic uncertainty. Conversely, a lower ratio implies that silver is gaining value or that gold is becoming less expensive.
This ratio can also indicate potential buying opportunities. For instance, if the ratio is historically high, some investors might see it as a cue to buy silver, expecting the ratio to revert to a long-term average.
The gold/silver ratio is also used to gauge economic health. Shifts in the ratio reflect changes in market sentiment and economic conditions.
History of silver prices
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 thus been characterized by high volatility, with significant fluctuations over the decades.
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. This level persisted for years, with prices not surpassing $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.
The highest peak of silver prices was around $49.45 per troy ounce in January 1980. Conversely, the lowest trough for silver prices was around $3.56 per troy ounce in February 1993.
This history reflects the deep drawdowns and high run-ups characteristic of the silver market, influenced by various factors such as economic crises, market speculation and investor behavior.
Silver futures
Key global exchanges, including those in cities like Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York and Zurich, facilitate nearly 24-hour trading of silver. The COMEX, a branch of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, plays a pivotal role in setting the silver spot price, using futures contracts to project silver prices.
Silver futures are a financial contract where a buyer agrees to purchase, and a seller agrees to sell, a specific amount of silver at a predetermined price on a specified future date. The standardization provided by silver futures makes the contracts easily tradable on exchanges.
Silver ETPs
Silver exchange-traded products come in various legal structures, including closed-end funds and grantor trusts.
These ETPs generally hold silver bullion in audited storage regardless of their structure. They trade on exchanges with tickers similar to stocks, allowing investors to buy shares representing fractional exposure to the silver stored.
The price of a silver ETP can fluctuate, trading at discounts or premiums to its net asset value. This variation is often due to supply and demand imbalances in the market.
Additionally, investors should be aware of annual management fees and other expenses, which can impact overall 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)
Silver’s highest historical price was $49.45 per ounce on Jan. 18, 1980.
Investors can gain silver exposure in their IRA through two main methods. One way is by including silver ETPs in their individual retirement account. This method allows investors to have an investment linked to silver without needing physical storage.
Alternatively, investors can use a silver IRA provider to open a specialized IRA that holds physical silver. In this case, the investor’s IRA invests in silver bars or coins stored in a secure, IRS-approved depository.
The process requires choosing a custodian who specializes in self-directed IRAs to manage the purchase, storage and security of the physical silver.
