What is the current price of silver today?
Silver traded at $30.21 per ounce as of 9 a.m. ET. That represents an increase of 3.93% over the past 24 hours. Year to date, silver is up 26.25%.
On the last day, it has reached a low of $28.97 and a high of $30.80.
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.
Silver price chart
See the chart below for how silver spot prices have changed over the past year. The data is updated at 9 a.m. ET and doesn’t have intraday lows or highs.
As of 9 a.m., silver was up 26.25% since Jan. 1. It hit its 52-week high of $32.51 on May 19, 2024. The 52-week low was $20.69 on Oct. 2, 2023.
The spot price represents the current market rate, or what the price is “on the spot.” Like gold prices, silver prices are typically provided in troy ounces. One troy ounce equals 1.097 standard ounces.
Various factors drive spot prices for silver. Many investors opt to trade using futures contracts rather than spot prices.
Precious metals spot prices
You can trade four main precious metals via physical bullion, exchange-traded products or futures contracts. They are silver, gold, platinum and palladium. All trade 24/7 in various 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 85.27.
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 peaked in January 1980 at $49.45 per troy ounce. They hit a low of $3.56 per troy ounce in February 1993.
Silver’s spot price has fluctuated over the years. Variables like supply and demand, geopolitical events, currency strength, economic data, and changes in investment trends impact silver prices.
1970 – 2005
Silver was under $10 per ounce in the mid-1970s. It reached nearly $50 in 1980. But silver fell back under $10 by the late 1980s.
2006 – 2024
Silver prices cleared $10 again in 2006.
The Great Recession drove prices higher. In March 2008, spot prices reached about $20 per ounce. But another sharp decline followed. Silver dropped back below $10 by October 2008.
Another major jump occurred a few years later. In April 2011, silver traded at over $45 per ounce.
Silver future prices
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 exchange-traded products
Do you want to invest in silver using your normal broker? Then you might consider exchange-traded products. ETPs have ticker symbols and trade like stocks on exchanges. They typically hold physical bullion stored in audited facilities. Shares represent ownership of a fraction of that silver.
Note that ETPs may have management fees. They may also have tracking errors relative to silver’s spot price.
Investing in silver
There are three primary ways to invest in silver:
- Bullion.Directly owning physical silver is a simple way to invest. But you’ll need a place to store it. You’ll likely want insurance too. These costs can eat into your returns.
- Futures. Futures contracts are a popular way to speculate on silver prices. They also let you hedge against price movements. Note that futures can be risky, especially if you’re trading on margin.
- ETPs. ETPs are available in most brokerage accounts, making them accessible. Their downsides include potential management fees and tracking errors.
Is buying 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 that specializes self-directed IRAs to manage the purchase, storage and security of the physical silver.
