Frequently Asked Questions

The current market price to buy or sell one troy ounce of a metal for immediate delivery. Gold and silver prices on Lode come from a true-spot feed (goldprice.org); platinum and palladium currently come from Yahoo Finance futures data, which can run roughly 1-2% above or below true spot depending on market conditions (contango/backwardation). None of these are dealer prices. Dealers add a premium above spot to cover minting, shipping, and margin.

The unit of weight used for precious metals worldwide. One troy ounce = 31.1035 grams. A standard avoirdupois ounce (food, everyday items) is only 28.3495 g — about 9.7% lighter. When any dealer or price quote says "per ounce" for gold or silver, they always mean a troy ounce.

Gold’s spot price is driven by COMEX futures trading and the twice-daily LBMA benchmark in London. On the supply side: mine output, central bank sales. On the demand side: jewelry, ETF flows, industrial use, and financial hedging. Macro factors — real interest rates, US dollar strength, and geopolitical risk — move the price significantly day to day.

Spot price is the per-troy-ounce price for pure metal. Melt value is what a specific coin or item is worth based on its actual silver or gold content. A pre-1965 quarter contains 0.18084 troy oz of silver — its melt value is 0.18084 × spot price. Coins with numismatic (collector) value may sell above melt; scrap silver typically fetches 90–97% of melt from dealers.

Pre-1965 US dimes, quarters, and half dollars that are 90% silver. “Junk” means no collector premium — they trade purely on silver content. $1 face value in 90% coins contains roughly 0.715 troy oz of silver (industry standard, adjusted for wear). Use the junk silver calculator to find melt value by face amount or individual coin count.

How many ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold. If gold is $3,000 and silver is $30, the ratio is 100. Historically it has ranged from about 15:1 (bimetallic standard era) to over 120:1 (COVID-era spike). Investors use the ratio to gauge whether gold or silver looks relatively cheap or expensive against the other.

The markup a dealer charges above the spot price. If silver spot is $30/ozt and an American Silver Eagle sells for $35, the premium is $5 (≈ 16.7%). Premiums cover fabrication, distribution, and dealer margin. Generic rounds carry lower premiums than government-minted coins. The compare page tracks premiums across dealers in real time.

Bullion coins (Gold Eagles, Maple Leafs, Krugerrands) are bought for their metal content and price near spot plus a modest premium. Numismatic coins are valued for rarity and condition — a key-date Morgan dollar in top grade can be worth many times its silver melt value. For most buyers focused on the metal, bullion is simpler: pricing is transparent and selling back is straightforward.

Yes, and we understand why you’re asking — the precious-metals space has a lot of dodgy sites. Here’s how to verify us yourself:

• Our data sources are published openly on the Methodology page. Cross-check any spot price shown on Lode against Kitco or a broker terminal — the numbers should match within a few cents.
• We do not buy, sell, or broker metal. No funds ever move through Lode. See About.
• What we collect and how we handle it is in our Privacy Policy.
• You can reach a human at hello@lode.rocks.

Third-party scanners like Gridinsoft and Scamadviser give newer sites cautious scores by default because domain age is weighted heavily. That’s a signal about time-in-market, not a finding of wrongdoing.

Affiliate commissions on dealer outbound clicks from the compare page. When you click through to APMEX, JM Bullion, SD Bullion, or Money Metals and buy, Lode may earn a referral fee at no cost to you. Commissions do not affect rankings — the compare page sorts by estimated total cost.

Gold and silver spot prices come from goldprice.org’s live rate feed (true spot, not futures). Platinum and palladium currently come from Yahoo Finance futures data (PL=F, PA=F), which can run roughly 1-2% above or below true spot depending on market conditions (contango/backwardation) — we haven’t found an equally reliable free spot source for those two yet. All four are routed through a Cloudflare Worker. Full detail is on the Methodology page.

We fetch a new price once a day and store it — every page reads that same stored value rather than fetching fresh on each visit. Every price on Lode shows exactly when it was last updated (e.g. “Updated 6h ago”), so you can see its age instead of assuming it’s real-time. On weekends and holidays the price reflects the last traded value — markets are closed.

Both the sparkline and the price tile next to it come from the same daily snapshot in our database, not intraday ticks — see “How fresh are the prices?” above. Intraday history from paid data APIs gets expensive quickly, and daily closes are enough to see the meaningful trend.

No. No advertising, no third-party tracking cookies, no data broker relationships. The only third-party services we use are the ones operationally required to run the site, listed in the Privacy Policy.

No. Lode is not a dealer, broker, or exchange. We don’t hold metal, we don’t sell metal, we don’t take commissions from dealers. If you want to buy physical metal, use a reputable dealer (APMEX, JM Bullion, SD Bullion, your local coin shop).

Set a target (e.g. “alert me when gold goes above $2,400/ozt”) and when the spot price we fetch crosses that threshold, we send one email to the address on your account. Alerts are checked once per day. Email is the only channel — no SMS, no push, no calls.

Yes. The price dashboard, coin melt calculator, gram converter, and portfolio tracker all work without signing in. If you use the portfolio tracker anonymously, your holdings are stored only in your browser’s localStorage and never leave your device. An account is only required for email alerts or cross-device portfolio sync.

Email us at hello@lode.rocks from the address on your account, or use the account page when signed in. We process deletion requests within 30 days as described in the Privacy Policy.

No. Everything on Lode is informational. Spot prices, calculations, and alerts are tools to help you see what’s happening in the market — not recommendations to buy, sell, or hold anything. Decisions about your portfolio are yours to make, ideally with input from a qualified financial or tax professional if the stakes are meaningful.