Gold vs silver vs platinum: three metals, three different jobs.
They are sold side by side and often discussed as one asset class, but they are priced by different demand, taxed differently and behave differently in a downturn. Here is the honest comparison, with the live benchmarks.
Gold
Buying guide →The monetary metal. Central bank reserves, deep liquidity, VAT-exempt investment form.
$4,621/oz+0.77%Silver
Buying guide →Half monetary, half industrial. More volatile, more affordable per ounce, VAT applies.
$68.66/oz-0.23%Platinum
Buying guide →The industrial precious metal. Thin market, wide spreads, supply concentrated in southern Africa.
$1,872/oz+1.40%Gold/silver ratio: 67.3 — one ounce of gold buys 67.3 ounces of silver. Updated 11:55 UTC.
Side by side
| Gold | Silver | Platinum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary demand | Monetary: central bank reserves, investment and jewellery | Split: roughly half industrial, half investment and jewellery | Industrial: autocatalysts, chemicals, glass; some jewellery |
| Role in a portfolio | Crisis insurance and currency hedge; the core holding | Higher-volatility satellite with an industrial growth link | Small cyclical position on industrial and supply themes |
| EU / UK VAT on purchase | Exempt for investment-grade metal | Standard national rate, unless held in bonded storage | Standard national rate, unless held in bonded storage |
| Retail liquidity | Deepest market; tight spreads; buy-back quotes everywhere | Good liquidity; wider spreads than gold | Thinner market; fewer dealers; widest spreads |
| Typical retail premium | Lowest of the three; sub-1% available in vaulted form | Higher; minting costs weigh on a lower unit value | Highest; thin turnover and a narrow product list |
| Storage practicality | Highest value density; compact to store | Bulky; volume and minimum fees become real constraints | Compact like gold, but fewer vault programmes accept it |
| Price behaviour in a recession | Often rises as monetary demand strengthens | Frequently falls with industrial demand | Typically falls with industrial demand |
How investors usually combine them
The common institutional pattern is gold as the core — because its monetary demand is the most reliable in a crisis — with silver and, less often, platinum as smaller satellites around it. Silver adds volatility and a link to industrial growth; platinum adds a concentrated supply story. Neither replaces gold's insurance function, and both cost more to buy, store and sell in retail form.
Whatever the mix, the discipline is the same as for any single-metal position: anchor quotes to the London benchmark, resolve the tax treatment before choosing a product, and size each position for the decline it could realistically suffer. The three buying guides below walk through each metal's version of that process.
Buying guides
- How to buy goldCustody models, total cost over your horizon and dealer verification.
- How to buy silverThe VAT question, realistic premiums and the physical storage problem.
- How to buy platinumIndustrial demand, thin liquidity and planning your exit first.
- Live prices & historyBenchmark levels and up to ten years of London settlement history.
- Dealer comparisonPremiums, custody fees and minimums across every tracked platform.
- Weight converterOunces, grams, kilograms and tolas at live metal prices.
Picked your metal? Now pick your dealer.
Entry premium plus annual custody over your holding period decides your outcome. Compare both across every tracked platform.