UK silver holds near £43 an ounce as gold to silver ratio nears 70:1

Silver was trading at around £42.80 an ounce on Sunday, with gold near £3,002 an ounce, according to livepriceofgold.com. That puts the gold to silver ratio at roughly 70 to 1, close to the level implied by CBS News figures from 27 July, when gold stood at $4,102 an ounce and silver at $59. Both metals remain well below their January peaks of near $5,600 and $116.

The pullback follows a hawkish hold from the Federal Reserve on 29 July, its fifth consecutive pause, with three policymakers voting for a rate rise instead, according to BullionVault. Long dated US Treasury yields climbed to their highest since 2007, and the Bank of England held its own rate at 3.75 per cent. Even so, BullionVault notes gold and silver remain up 22.9 per cent and 53.9 per cent over the past year.

For first time UK buyers, a stretched ratio is a useful yardstick rather than a trading signal: it can narrow if silver catches up with gold, or widen further if gold keeps outperforming. Silver, unlike investment grade gold coins and bars, also attracts UK VAT, so the all in cost of buying it is spot price plus dealer premium plus VAT plus any delivery or storage fees. This is not financial advice.