Silver Price FAQ
Byline: Reviewed by the Silver Value Chart Editorial Team · Updated September 19, 2026
About the price
What is the price of silver today? Silver is $66.38 per troy ounce as of September 19, 2026. That is the spot price — the wholesale price for immediate delivery of .999 fine silver. See the live chart for how it has moved.
Why do different websites show different silver prices? Quotes vary by a few cents depending on the data feed, the exact moment captured, and whether the site shows bid, ask or mid price. A difference of more than about a percent usually means you are comparing a spot price against a retail price, which includes a dealer premium.
Who sets the silver price? Nobody sets it in the way a central bank sets an interest rate. It emerges from trading, principally COMEX futures (the 5,000 troy ounce SI contract) and the London market, where the LBMA administers a daily benchmark.
Does the silver price change on weekends? Barely. Futures markets close for part of the weekend, so quotes go stale until trading reopens. A price stamped Friday evening is still Friday's price on Sunday afternoon.
What makes silver go up and down? Industrial demand (about half of consumption — electronics, solar, brazing, medical), currency strength, interest rates, mine supply, and speculative positioning. Silver is more volatile than gold because its market is smaller by value and because half its demand is tied to the economic cycle.
Units and weights
How many grams are in an ounce of silver? A troy ounce is 31.1034768 grams. This is not the ounce on a kitchen scale, which is an avoirdupois ounce of about 28.35 grams. Confusing the two overstates silver by roughly 10%.
Why is silver measured in troy ounces? The troy system was the system of the mints and apothecaries, and it stayed in use for precious metals because contracts, vaults and centuries of records are written in it.
How much is a pound of silver worth? It depends which pound. An ordinary avoirdupois pound holds 14.5833 troy ounces, worth $968.04. A troy pound holds only 12 troy ounces, worth $796.56. See silver price per pound.
How many troy ounces are in a kilogram? 32.1507 troy ounces.
Purity
What does 925 mean on silver? 925 parts silver per thousand — 92.5% silver, 7.5% copper. This is sterling silver, the standard for virtually all silver jewelry and flatware. It is solid silver throughout, not plated.
Is 925 silver real silver? Yes. It is 92.5% pure silver alloyed with copper for hardness. Pure silver is too soft for objects that get handled.
What is the difference between sterling and fine silver? Fine silver is 99.9% pure and used for bullion. Sterling is 92.5% and used for objects. Fine silver is worth more per gram; sterling is durable enough to make things from.
Does silver plate have any value? Effectively none as scrap. The silver layer is microns thick and costs more to recover than it yields. Marks to watch for: EPNS, "silver plate", A1, triple or quadruple plate. Note that "German silver", "nickel silver" and "alpaca" contain no silver at all.
How can I tell if something is real silver? Check for a purity mark first (925, STERLING, 900, 800). Silver is not magnetic, so a strong magnetic pull rules it out. Silver is also the most thermally conductive metal, so an ice cube melts unusually fast on it. For certainty, ask a buyer for an XRF test, which is non-destructive. See our purity chart.
Valuing what you own
What is melt value? The worth of the silver content alone, ignoring craftsmanship, brand, condition and collector demand. Calculate it as weight × price per unit × purity.
Will I get the melt value if I sell? No. Melt value is a ceiling. Refiners and major buyers typically pay 90–95% of melt, coin shops and jewelers 70–90%, and pawn shops less. The buyer has to cover testing, refining, handling and margin.
How do I work out what my silver coins are worth? For pre-1965 US coins, multiply the face value by 0.715 (the trade's circulated-wear figure) or 0.7234 (the theoretical figure) to get troy ounces, then multiply by the spot price. Our junk silver calculator does both.
Which US coins contain silver? Dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 or earlier are 90% silver. Kennedy half dollars from 1965–1970 are 40% silver. Nickels from mid-1942 to 1945 with a large mintmark above Monticello are 35% silver. Everything else in circulation contains none.
Should I clean silver before selling it? No. Tarnish does not reduce silver content, and polishing removes a trace of metal each time. For anything with antique or collector value, cleaning can reduce the value substantially and irreversibly.
Is my silver worth more than melt value? Possibly. Named flatware patterns, hallmarked antique silver, signed designer jewelry and key-date coins routinely beat melt. Melting is irreversible, so if a piece is marked, matched or unusually well made, get an opinion on it as an object first.
Buying and selling
What is a premium over spot? The amount above the spot price that a finished product costs — covering refining, minting, distribution and dealer margin. Large bars carry the lowest premium per ounce; fractional pieces under one ounce carry the highest.
Why can't I buy silver at the spot price? Because spot describes wholesale metal in institutional quantities — 1,000-ounce bars and 5,000-ounce contracts. Turning that into a coin you can hold costs money, and that cost is the premium.
Is it better to buy coins or bars? Bars carry lower premiums per ounce. Coins are easier to sell and more divisible. Which suits you depends on your circumstances; this is general information, not advice.
How do I get a fair price when selling? Sort by purity, weigh in grams on a scale reading to 0.1 g, and get more than one quote. Ask for a percentage of melt rather than a lump sum. The spread between the best and worst offer on identical material is routinely wider than a month of price movement.
Is silver a good purchase right now? We do not answer that. It depends entirely on your circumstances and we are not licensed to advise you. What we can give you is the current price, its history and what you would pay above spot — see price history and where to buy silver.
About this site
How often do your prices update? Daily. Every price carries a visible timestamp showing when the data behind it was captured.
Where does your data come from? Spot prices from api.gold-api.com; historical data from the COMEX silver futures contract (SI=F); coin specifications from the US Mint. Full detail on our about page.
Do you sell silver? No. We are not a dealer, we hold no metal, and we have no position in the price.