Reference
Silver Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the terms that come up most often in silver markets, stacking, and monetary history. Alphabetical.
- AISC (All-In Sustaining Cost)
- The fully-loaded cost to produce one troy ounce of silver equivalent, including operating costs, capital maintenance, and administrative expenses. The standard profitability metric for silver and gold miners. Compare a miner's AISC to the current spot price to estimate margin.
- Allocated Storage
- A storage arrangement where your specific metal — your exact coins or bars — is held separately and identified as yours. The opposite of unallocated storage. Allocated storage eliminates counterparty risk from the vault: the metal belongs to you, not the vault operator's pool.
- Bid-Ask Spread
- The difference between the price a dealer will pay to buy silver from you (the bid) and the price they will sell silver to you (the ask). The spread represents the dealer's cost of doing business and profit margin. Tighter spreads generally indicate more liquid products.
- Bullion
- Silver (or gold) in refined form — bars, rounds, or coins — valued primarily for its metal content rather than its numismatic or collectible value. Bullion products trade close to spot price plus a premium, as opposed to numismatic coins that trade based on rarity and condition.
- By-Product Silver
- Silver produced as a secondary output of mining operations primarily focused on another metal — typically lead, zinc, copper, or gold. Roughly 70–80% of annual silver mine production is by-product silver. This structural feature makes silver supply relatively inelastic: output is driven by the primary metal's economics, not silver's price.
- COMEX
- The Commodity Exchange, a division of the CME Group, and the primary U.S. futures exchange for silver and gold. A standard COMEX silver futures contract represents 5,000 troy ounces. The vast majority of COMEX contracts are settled in cash rather than physical delivery. COMEX prices are the primary reference for the silver spot price.
- Crime of 1873
- A nickname given by silver advocates to the U.S. Coinage Act of 1873, which ended free silver coinage and placed the country de facto on the gold standard. The act caused silver's monetary role to shrink dramatically, contributed to deflation, and sparked decades of political conflict over monetary policy.
- Fineness
- A measure of silver purity expressed in parts per thousand. .999 fine means 999 parts per thousand (99.9%) are pure silver. The standard for most bullion products. .9999 fine (four nines) is used for Canadian Silver Maple Leafs and select other products. Sterling silver is .925 fine.
- Gold/Silver Ratio
- The number of ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold at current prices. Calculated by dividing the gold price by the silver price. Historically averaged around 15:1 under bimetallic monetary systems; in the modern era has ranged from 15:1 to 125:1. Used by some investors to time rotations between the two metals.
- LBMA (London Bullion Market Association)
- The trade association that oversees the London wholesale silver and gold market. The LBMA administers the Silver Price benchmark (set twice daily via an electronic auction), sets standards for Good Delivery bars, and accredits refiners. London is the largest physical silver trading center in the world.
- Numismatic
- Relating to the study and collection of coins and currency. A numismatic coin's value is based on rarity, historical significance, and condition — not just its metal content. Distinguished from bullion coins, which trade close to their melt value. Numismatic premiums can be very high and are illiquid compared to bullion.
- Paper Silver
- Silver exposure held through financial instruments — futures contracts, ETFs, unallocated accounts — rather than physical metal. The term is used (sometimes dismissively) to highlight that these instruments represent a claim on silver rather than the metal itself, and carry counterparty risk that physical silver does not.
- Royalty / Streaming
- A business model in mining finance where a company provides upfront capital to a miner in exchange for either a royalty (a percentage of future revenue) or a stream (the right to buy a portion of future production at a fixed below-market price). Royalty and streaming companies have no direct operating costs and offer diversified exposure to mining without operational risk.
- Spot Price
- The current market price for one troy ounce of silver for immediate delivery, quoted in U.S. dollars. Reflects the wholesale professional market (primarily LBMA and COMEX) — not the price a retail buyer pays. Retail buyers pay spot price plus a premium. Spot price changes continuously during trading hours.
- Sterling Silver
- A silver alloy that is 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper (or other metals), expressed as .925 fineness. Used in jewelry and silverware for its improved hardness over pure silver. Sterling is not bullion — it trades at a discount to .999 fine silver due to alloy content and assay costs.
- Troy Ounce
- The unit of weight used for precious metals. One troy ounce equals 31.1035 grams — about 10% heavier than an avoirdupois (standard) ounce (28.3495 grams). All silver prices and bullion product weights are in troy ounces. When a coin is labeled "1 oz silver," it contains one troy ounce.
- Unallocated Storage
- A storage arrangement where you hold a claim on a quantity of silver from a pool, but your specific metal is not identified separately. Common with bank accounts and some vault services. Lower cost than allocated storage, but you become an unsecured creditor of the institution — in a bankruptcy, you may not get your metal back.
Something missing? Let us know.