Gold, Silver & Precious Metals Spot Prices
Track current gold, silver, platinum and palladium spot prices in US dollars per troy ounce. Maitland Wealth provides regularly updated precious metals market data alongside independent research to help readers understand how spot prices relate to physical precious metals and Gold IRAs.
Precious metals prices can change throughout the trading day. The prices shown below are provided for informational purposes and may differ from the prices charged by precious metals dealers.
Understanding Precious Metals Spot Prices
A precious-metals spot price is a widely used market reference price for gold, silver, platinum or palladium, normally quoted per troy ounce. Spot prices can move throughout the trading day as market conditions change, including shifts in buying and selling activity, currency values, economic data and expectations across global markets.
The spot price provides a useful benchmark, but it is not necessarily the price an individual investor will pay when purchasing a physical coin or bar. Physical precious-metals products can trade above or below the prevailing spot price depending on the specific product, availability, dealer pricing and other costs associated with manufacturing and distribution.
Spot Price vs Dealer Price
When purchasing physical precious metals, the final retail price will often differ from the current spot market rate. Several operational factors contribute to the variance between the underlying spot price and the final retail cost of a physical product.
Because of these practical variables, two distinct products containing the exact same underlying weight and purity of metal can trade at different prices relative to the current spot price.
- Dealer premium and/or spread
- Coin or bar fabrication and minting costs
- Product type and market availability
- Order size and volume
- Local and global supply and demand
- Shipping, handling, and insurance logistics where applicable
Precious Metals and Gold IRAs
Simply being made from gold, silver, platinum or palladium does not automatically make a coin or bar eligible to be held within an IRA. Precious metals held through a self-directed IRA are subject to specific federal tax rules concerning eligible metals, applicable eligibility and fineness requirements and the way IRA assets are held.
Certain coins and bullion can qualify while others are treated as collectibles, and statutory exceptions can also apply. Investors should therefore consider both the type of metal being purchased and the applicable trustee or custodian requirements governing IRA-owned precious metals. For a detailed explanation, see our research on IRS Code Section 408(m) and the collectibles rule.
What Does “Per Troy Ounce” Mean?
Precious metals are conventionally measured and quoted using the troy ounce, a historical unit of mass specific to the bullion market, rather than the standard avoirdupois ounce commonly used for everyday goods in the United States.