You wake up, check your phone, and there it is. Gold is sitting at $4,613.99 per oz. Silver? It’s hovering around $89.54.
If those numbers look alien to you, it's probably because you haven't been watching the absolute chaos that hit the metals market over the last year. Honestly, if you told someone in early 2024 that gold would blow past $4,500, they would have called you a lunatic. But here we are on January 16, 2026, and the "old rules" of finance are basically in the paper shredder.
Prices move. Fast.
One minute the Fed Chair is under investigation—yeah, that's a real thing happening right now with Jerome Powell—and the next, everyone and their mother is diving into "god's money" because they’re terrified of what happens to the dollar. It’s a wild time to be looking at gold and silver prices per oz.
The Reality of Gold and Silver Prices Per Oz Today
Let’s get the raw data out of the way first. As of this morning, gold is trading at roughly $4,610. Silver is a bit more volatile, bouncing between $89 and $92.
Why the gap?
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Gold is the "boring" sibling. It’s a store of value. People buy it when they think the world is ending or when central banks like the ones in China or Russia decide they've had enough of holding U.S. Treasuries. But silver? Silver is the crazy cousin.
Silver has this dual personality. It’s an investment, sure, but it’s also an industrial powerhouse. You can’t build a solar panel or a high-end EV battery without it. With the AI boom requiring massive data centers and precision electrical contacts, silver isn't just a "poor man's gold" anymore. It's a "tech-age necessity."
What’s Actually Moving the Needle?
- Central Bank Hunger: Central banks aren't just nibbling; they are feasting. We’re talking over 1,000 tons of gold bought annually. They are diversifying away from fiat because, frankly, they can see the writing on the wall regarding sovereign debt.
- The Supply Deficit: This is the big one for silver. We are in the fifth straight year of a silver supply deficit. We’re using more than we’re digging up. Period.
- Geopolitical Jitters: Between the ongoing trade wars involving U.S. tariffs and the "weaponization of the dollar," the global market is fractured.
Most people think gold and silver move together. They usually do. But lately, silver has been outperforming gold on a percentage basis. In 2025, while gold was up a massive 65%, silver exploded by nearly 150%.
Why the Spot Price Isn't What You Actually Pay
Here is something that trips up almost every new buyer. You see the gold and silver prices per oz on a chart and think, "Great, I'll go buy an ounce for that price."
Nope.
That "spot price" you see is for a massive 400-ounce bar sitting in a vault in London or New York. It’s a wholesale paper price. When you go to buy a 1 oz American Silver Eagle or a Gold Maple Leaf, you’re going to pay a "premium."
Premiums cover the minting, the shipping, the insurance, and the dealer’s overhead. Right now, because demand is so high, premiums on silver coins are particularly spicy. You might see silver at $90 on the screen but have to pay $98 to actually get it in your hand.
The Troy Ounce Trap
Ever heard of an "avoirdupois" ounce? Probably not, but that’s the one in your kitchen. A standard ounce is 28.35 grams.
Precious metals use the Troy Ounce, which is 31.10 grams.
It seems like a small difference until you’re selling a stash and realize you have about 10% more weight than you thought. Or 10% less if you got the math backward. Always make sure you’re looking at Troy ounces when checking gold and silver prices per oz.
Expert Forecasts: Is $5,000 Gold Inevitable?
If you listen to the big banks—J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America—they’ve all been forced to hike their targets. Most of them are clustering around the $5,000 mark for gold by the end of 2026.
Some, like Robert Kiyosaki or Jim Rickards, go much further. Rickards has been shouting about $15,000 gold for years. While that feels extreme, the Fibonacci extensions traders use are pointing toward $5,000 as a very realistic "next stop."
For silver, the consensus is creeping toward $100.
If silver hits triple digits, the gold-to-silver ratio (which tells us how many ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold) would shrink significantly. Historically, that ratio was 16:1. For much of the last decade, it was an absurd 80:1. If it heads back toward the historical average while gold stays high, silver has a massive mountain to climb.
Don't Ignore the "White Metals"
While everyone looks at gold and silver, Platinum and Palladium have been doing their own thing. Platinum actually hit $2,345 today. It’s often forgotten, but it’s rarer than gold. If you’re looking at the total "precious metals complex," ignoring the white metals is a mistake.
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Is it Too Late to Buy?
This is the question everyone asks when prices are at all-time highs.
"I'll wait for a dip," they say.
The problem is, in a bull market like this, the dips are shallow and fast. Look at the chart from October 2025. Gold had a "correction" from $4,500 down to $4,330. People waited for it to hit $4,000. It never did. It V-recovered and smashed new highs within weeks.
Buying "at the top" feels gross. I get it. But if the fundamental reasons for the rise—inflation, debt, and de-dollarization—haven't changed, then the "top" is just a landing on a much taller staircase.
Actionable Steps for Navigating the Market
If you're looking to get exposure to gold and silver prices per oz, don't just dive in blindly.
- Check the Spread: Before buying, ask the dealer for the "bid" and "ask" prices. The difference (the spread) is your immediate loss the moment you walk out the door. High-volume items like 10 oz silver bars or 1 oz gold bars usually have the best spreads.
- Avoid "Collectible" Markup: Unless you are a coin expert, stay away from "graded" or "numismatic" coins. You’re paying for rarity and history, not just the metal. In a crisis, the person buying your gold only cares about the weight.
- Storage Matters: If you buy physical, you need a safe. A real one. Not a $50 box from a big-box store. If you don't want the hassle, look into "vaulted" services where they hold the metal for you, but make sure it is "allocated" in your name.
- Dollar Cost Average: Instead of dumping your life savings in today, buy a little bit every month. You’ll buy less when prices are high and more when they dip. It saves you the heart attack of watching daily price swings.
The world of precious metals is weird, shiny, and currently very expensive. But as long as the global economy looks this shaky, those gold and silver prices per oz are likely to stay the headline story.
Next Step: Verify the current "Ask" price at three different reputable online dealers to see who has the lowest premium over the spot price for a 1 oz Sovereign gold coin.