Spot price
The spot price is the live wholesale market price for one troy ounce of pure gold (or silver) delivered immediately. It is set continuously by the LBMA, COMEX, and other major markets. Retail bullion always trades above spot, with the markup called the premium.
Gold and silver have continuous, deep wholesale markets. The spot price published by Kitco or the LBMA reflects the price at which one Good Delivery bar of pure metal would trade for immediate settlement.
Retail bullion is never sold at exactly spot: there is always a premium covering refining, minting, packaging, transport, dealer margin, and insurance. A fair premium on 1 oz sovereign gold coins is 4–6%; on 1 kg gold bars from LBMA refiners, 2–3%.
Spot moves continuously during trading hours. At Ounceo, we lock the USD-denominated quote for 30 minutes when you request it, so you can pay in crypto without worrying about intraday moves.
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Related terms
The premium is the markup over spot price that you pay for retail bullion. It compensates the mint, refiner, dealer, and shipper. Premiums vary by product: 1 oz sovereign coins are 4–6%, 1 g minted bars can be 8–12%, 1 kg LBMA bars are 2–3%. Lower premium = more metal per dollar.
A troy ounce is the standard unit of weight for precious metals, equal to 31.1034768 grams. It is about 10% heavier than the ordinary avoirdupois ounce (28.35 g) used in everyday commerce. All spot prices, bar weights, and coin denominations in bullion are denominated in troy ounces.
LBMA Good Delivery is the international quality standard maintained by the London Bullion Market Association. A refiner on the LBMA Good Delivery List has proven its bars meet strict purity (≥99.5% gold, ≥99.9% silver), weight, dimensions, and assay accuracy — making the bars universally accepted by major dealers.