If you woke up today, January 17, 2026, and checked your bullion app, you probably did a double-take. The market is acting like it’s on caffeine. Honestly, it’s wild.
Today's price of silver is sitting at $90.88 per ounce.
Just let that sink in for a second. We are talking about a metal that spent years—decades, really—struggling to stay above $30. Now, it’s knocking on the door of triple digits. Earlier this week, we actually saw it scream past $93 before a bit of "Friday fatigue" set in. People are taking profits. It’s natural. But the floor has fundamentally shifted.
Today's Price of Silver and the $100 Question
Everyone wants to know if we hit $100 by Valentine's Day. Some analysts, like the folks over at The Oregon Group, are even floating numbers like $150. That sounds like moon-math, but when you look at the supply-demand deficit, it’s not just hype.
We are currently in the fifth consecutive year of a silver shortage.
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Basically, we aren't digging it out of the ground fast enough. Most silver is a byproduct of mining for copper or zinc. You can’t just "turn up" silver production because the price is high; you’d have to mine more of everything else, too. It’s a bottleneck that’s finally snapped.
Why $90 is the new $30
The world changed while we were sleeping. In the last year, China tightened export licenses on refined silver. They want to keep the "white metal" for their own tech. Think about it: solar panels, 5G towers, and those AI chips everyone is obsessed with. They all need silver.
- Solar Demand: It’s up 14% year-over-year.
- EV Wiring: Electric cars use roughly double the silver of a gas car.
- The "Safe Haven" Shift: With the Fed juggling rate cuts and inflation still hovering around 2.7%, people are dumping cash for hard assets.
It’s a perfect storm. The gold-to-silver ratio, which used to be a boring 80:1, has collapsed to around 50:1. Silver is outperforming gold by a mile right now.
The Reality of Buying Physical Right Now
If you're looking at today's price of silver thinking about a 10oz bar, be prepared for "sticker shock" on premiums. Spot price is $90.88, but try finding a reputable dealer selling for less than $98 or $100 after commissions and shipping.
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Physical scarcity is real. The COMEX and LBMA vaults are at decade-low levels. Big industrial players are now bypassing the public exchanges and signing private contracts directly with miners.
You’ve gotta be careful. When prices spike like this, the "get rich quick" scams come out of the woodwork. If someone on social media is offering "discounted" silver at $75 an ounce today, it’s fake. Period.
What most people get wrong about volatility
Silver is nicknamed the "devil’s metal" for a reason. It doesn't move in a straight line. It’s erratic. We saw a 7.5% jump in a single day this week. That’s huge. But it can also drop $5 in an afternoon if a single inflation report comes out hotter than expected.
If you're a day trader, you're probably loving this. If you're a retiree just trying to protect your savings, the swings can be gut-wrenching. You sort of have to have a stomach for the messiness.
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Where do we go from here?
The path to $100 isn't a guarantee, but the "boxes" are being checked. We have a tight physical market. We have geopolitical stress in the Middle East and Eastern Europe driving safe-haven buying. And we have a massive industrial tailwind from the green energy transition.
Honestly, the only thing that could really tank the price today would be a massive, unexpected interest rate hike from the Fed, which seems unlikely given the current labor market data.
Actionable Steps for Today
- Check your ratios: If you're heavy on gold, look at the 50:1 ratio. Some investors are swapping gold for silver to capture the potential climb to $100.
- Verify your sources: Stick to big names like JM Bullion or Kitco. Premiums are high, but a high premium on real metal is better than a "deal" on a lead bar painted silver.
- Watch the industrial data: Keep an eye on solar manufacturing reports out of Shenzhen. If they slow down, silver might take a breather.
- Dollar-cost average: Don't go "all in" at $90. If it dips to $85 next week, you'll want some dry powder to buy the correction.
The market is fast. It's loud. And for the first time in a generation, silver is actually the lead actor in the commodities world.