Silver up 2.8% in a week, gold flat
Between 28 July and 4 August silver rose from 1.6133 to 1.6589 euros per gram: up 2.8 per cent. Gold barely moved over the same week, from 113.74 to 113.65 euros per gram. Two precious metals, one week, two very different movements.
What happened that week
The four metals we measure daily, in euros per gram of fine metal:
- Silver – from 1.6133 to 1.6589 euros per gram (+2.8%)
- Gold – from 113.74 to 113.65 euros per gram (–0.1%)
- Platinum – from 45.33 to 48.39 euros per gram (+6.8%)
- Palladium – from 35.68 to 37.62 euros per gram (+5.4%)
All four figures are converted from the world market quote in dollars at the euro rate of that same day. That euro rate moved from 1.1387 to 1.1533 dollars over the week, and that is not without consequence: in dollars per troy ounce silver went from 57.14 to 59.51, a little over four per cent. In euros, 2.8 per cent of that was left, because a stronger euro swallowed part of the rise.
The gold-silver ratio fell to 68.5
The trade watches the ratio between the two rates: how many grams of silver does one gram of gold buy? On 28 July that was 113.74 divided by 1.6133, or 70.5. On 4 August it was 113.65 divided by 1.6589: 68.5.
The ratio falls when silver runs harder than gold, and that is exactly what happened. It says no more than that. It describes the week behind us, not the week ahead — we do not know what that figure will do next month, so we are not going to put it here.
Watch the numbers 90, 100 and 110 on old cutlery. Those are not silver fineness marks but a plating designation. Silver-plated cutlery has hardly any material value, however heavy the canteen feels.
What this means for cutlery, coins and old silver
Silver comes in to us mainly as cutlery, as tableware, and as old guilders and rijksdaalders. The same sum applies to all of it: weight times fineness times the rate, less our margin.
Solid silver usually carries the mark 925 (sterling) or 835. At 1.6589 euros per gram, a kilo of sterling silver contains 925 grams of fine silver, worth 1,534 euros in material before margin. At 835 that is 1,385 euros. If your canteen weighs less, scale the figure down proportionally.
Whether this is a good moment to part with that cutlery does not depend on the rate alone. One week of plus 2.8 per cent is not a trend, and anyone waiting for a higher figure is waiting for something nobody knows in advance. What you can do: have it weighed, hear the amount, and decide afterwards. A valuation costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
- 150 more coins: from the Morgan dollar to the gold riderOur coin catalogue grows from 52 to 202 coins: 86 in gold, 50 in silver, 9 in platinum and 5 in palladium, from 50 countries. Every coin has its own page with fine weight and today’s price.Read on
- September in figures: all four precious metals lowerGold fell 3.8 per cent in September, silver 7.4, platinum 3.2 and palladium 13.7. What that means for your jewellery, coins and bars, with the rates of 1 October.Read on
- A question about your gold? Send us a WhatsApp messageBesides phone, email and the chat on our site, you can now reach us on WhatsApp. Handy for a photo of a hallmark or a quick question in between.Read on
Still something unclear?
Ask it here. You will receive a personal reply by email, usually within one working day – no automated message and no phone call you did not ask for.
- An answer from a valuer, not from a template
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Sources
Where you can verify what you have just read.
- LBMAThe London gold and silver price our daily rate is built on
- WaarborgHollandThe Dutch assay office that verifies fineness and strikes hallmarks
Rather just have it looked at?
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