Is the price I pay the spot price?

No. Spot is the world price of the metal. A coin or bar sells at spot plus a premium for its form, quoted before you commit.

Does the counter pay spot when I sell?

Bullion: spot less a stated spread. Jewelry and scrap: tested purity times weight times spot, at a stated payout. Both are said at the counter, against the board at that moment.

Is this the gold price today in Detroit?

Spot is one world price in US dollars per troy ounce — the same whether you drive in from Detroit, Troy or Warren. What changes by place is the premium or the payout, and this counter states both.

Why is the silver price on the board different from a coin's price?

An ounce of silver in a government coin costs more to strike and move than an ounce in a bar, and the market pays for that. The gap is the premium; on silver it is a larger share of the price than on gold.

Spot prices · the board on the wall

Gold and silver price today, on the board in Madison Heights.

The gold and silver price today at this counter starts from four numbers: the live spot price of gold, silver, platinum and palladium, in US dollars per troy ounce. It is the same board on the shop wall and at the top of every page here — the figure the whole trade works from.

Spot is the starting point, not the price. What you pay for a coin or bar, and what the counter pays for yours, are both built from it in the open.

USD per troy ounce · as of Oct 28, 5:29 AM · change vs today's LBMA fix
Metal	Spot	Today
AUGold	$4,051.19	−0.1%
AGSilver	$53.93	+1.2%
PTPlatinum	$1,543.80	+1.3%
PDPalladium	$1,023.31	−0.2%

Both directions

Buying or selling, the number starts at spot.

Buying: spot plus a premium for the form. A sovereign coin carries more than a bar of the same weight; a small bar more per ounce than a large one. The premium is stated before you commit — what's in the case today is listed with the live figure beside it, and the pages on buying gold and silver bullion cover which form suits which buyer.

Selling: what the piece contains, times spot, at a stated payout — tested purity and weight when you sell gold, coins or scrap; weight alone when you sell bullion, bought back against this same board at a spread you hear first. Nothing comes off afterwards.

The feed

What the board shows, and how often it moves.

Four metals in dollars per troy ounce, and the day's move against the LBMA fix — the benchmark the bullion trade settles on each morning. The board refreshes through the trading day; the stamp under the table is the provider's time for the figures shown, and a feed that falls behind is marked delayed.

The counter prices off the board at the moment of the transaction. The market may move between your screen and the counter; the method — stated premium, stated payout — does not.

In the case now

Priced off this board today.

In the case

Priced off this board

Where the number goes next.

Reading the board

Questions about spot prices

Is the price I pay the spot price?: No. Spot is the world price of the metal. A coin or bar sells at spot plus a premium for its form, quoted before you commit.
Does the counter pay spot when I sell?: Bullion: spot less a stated spread. Jewelry and scrap: tested purity times weight times spot, at a stated payout. Both are said at the counter, against the board at that moment.
How often does the board update?: Through the trading day, on a short cache. The stamp under the table is the provider's time for the figures shown; a feed that falls behind is marked delayed.
Is this the gold price today in Detroit?: Spot is one world price in US dollars per troy ounce — the same whether you drive in from Detroit, Troy or Warren. What changes by place is the premium or the payout, and this counter states both.
Why is the silver price on the board different from a coin's price?: An ounce of silver in a government coin costs more to strike and move than an ounce in a bar, and the market pays for that. The gap is the premium; on silver it is a larger share of the price than on gold.