Monthly mining insights

Spot vs. Dealer: Real Cost of Buying and Selling in February 2026

The following is not really about mining per se but it can be considered interesting…

Spot prices can be thought of as theoretical. If you walk into a dealer with an ounce of gold, you’re not getting spot. And if you want to buy one? You’re paying a premium. Here’s the breakdown of those dollar differences for February 2026.

Gold: The Buy-Side Gap

When selling a 1 oz gold bar to a dealer, the gap was substantial. On February 2nd, spot gold sat at $6,530.20, but dealers were buying bars at $6,211. That’s a difference of $319.20 you’d leave on the table. The gap fluctuated throughout the month. On the 16th, it narrowed slightly to $313.97—the smallest spread. But by the 27th, with spot at $7,201.84 and dealers buying at $6,832, the gap had widened to $369.84.

Gold: The Sell-Side Premium

Buying from a dealer tells a different story. On February 2nd, the premium over spot was relatively modest—just $72.80. Dealers were selling at $6,603 while spot was $6,530.20. But that premium wasn’t consistent. On February 16th, the sell premium spiked to $192.03. By month’s end, it had tightened again to $126.16 on the 27th.

Silver: A Wider Relative Spread

Silver showed even more dramatic spreads on a percentage basis. On February 5th—the day silver spot crashed to $95.45—dealers were buying bars at just $86.43. That’s an $9.02 gap, but percentage-wise, it’s nearly 9.5% below spot. On the selling side that same day, dealers wanted $103.90, an $8.45 premium over spot.

Throughout the month, the silver buy-side gap ranged from $8.34 on the 16th to $12.67 on the 27th. The sell premium hovered between $7.52 and $10.76.

What This Means

For gold in February, dealers typically paid between $313 and $370 less than spot when buying, while charging $72 to $192 over spot when selling. That’s a total spread ranging from roughly $400 to $550 per ounce.

For silver, the absolute numbers look smaller—gaps of $8 to $13 on buys, premiums of $7 to $11 on sells. But proportionally, that’s a much bigger bite. The total spread on silver often exceeded $20 per ounce on a metal trading around $100 to $128.

The Raw Data

The spreads tell the real story of what it costs to participate in the physical market. For the complete daily breakdown, check out the full raw data post for February.

Monthly mining insights

Precious Metals Dealer Prices: February 2026

Now for something a little different. While spot prices give us the theoretical market value, dealer prices tell us what’s actually happening on the ground—what buyers pay and what sellers receive. Here’s a look at the buy and sell prices for 1 oz gold and silver bars and coins throughout February 2026, all in Canadian dollars.

Gold Bars

For 1 oz gold bars, the spread between what dealers pay and what they charge remained fairly consistent. Dealer buy prices opened at $6,211 on February 2nd. There was a dip early in the month—the 5th saw the low point at $6,193—but things picked up from there. By month’s end, dealers were buying at $6,832 on the 27th. On the selling side, prices started at $6,603 and climbed steadily. The high water mark came on the 23rd, with dealers asking $7,334 for a 1 oz bar.

Gold Coins

Gold coins carried a slight premium, as you’d expect. Dealer buy prices for coins ranged from a low of $6,356 on the 5th to a high of $7,011 on the 27th. Selling prices followed a similar pattern, opening at $6,642 and peaking at $7,370 on the 23rd. The coin premium was typically in the $30-$40 range over bars on the sell side.

Silver Bars

Silver saw some real volatility this month. Dealer buy prices for 1 oz bars dropped dramatically on February 5th to just $86.43. That was the low point. From there, it was a slow recovery, with buy prices climbing to $115.13 by the 27th. Sell prices told a similar story—dropping to $103.90 on the 5th, then rallying to hit $138.41 on the 27th. That’s a pretty wide swing in just a few weeks.

Silver Coins

The coin market for silver mirrored the bar market, though with the usual premiums intact. Buy prices bottomed out at $94.88 on the 5th and reached $122.80 by month’s end. Sell prices ranged from $104.29 at their lowest to $136.49 at their highest. Interestingly, there were a couple of days where bar sell prices actually exceeded coin prices—the 26th and 27th show bars commanding a slight premium.

The Raw Data

That’s the dealer landscape for February. The spreads between buy and sell prices offer a real-world glimpse into the precious metals market beyond just spot prices. For the complete breakdown of daily figures, check out the full raw data post for February.

Monthly mining insights

Gold and Silver: February 2026

OK – let’s dig into the precious metals data for February 2026. The month brought some interesting twists and turns for both gold and silver. As always, these spot prices were captured weekdays at 8 p.m. ET, expressed in Canadian dollars per ounce.

Gold

Gold opened the month at $6,530.20 on February 2nd. The first week saw some back-and-forth action—the price jumped to $6,843.72 on the 3rd, then dipped to a monthly low of $6,524.22 on the 5th. That turned out to be the floor for the month.

From there, gold began a more measured climb. There were some wobbles around mid-February, with the price touching $6,652.10 on the 17th. But the latter half of the month told a different story. Gold rallied strongly, breaking above $7,000 and hitting its peak on the final trading day, February 27th, at $7,201.84. A solid finish to the month.

Silver

Silver had a wilder ride. It started at $112.03 on the 2nd and even climbed to $122.25 by the 4th. Then came the real volatility. On February 5th, silver took a sharp nosedive, dropping all the way down to $95.45. That was the low water mark for the entire month.

It took some time to recover, drifting through the mid-$90s and low $100s for a while—hitting $98.85 on the 17th. But silver found its footing in the final stretch. The price pushed steadily upward in the last week, closing out the month at $127.80 on February 27th, which also happened to be its high for February.

The Raw Data

That’s the month in review for the precious metals. Both gold and silver saw their share of volatility, but managed to finish on a high note. If you want to examine the daily figures in detail, head over to the full raw data post for February.