Commodity Origins

The 2025–26 metals rally: gold, silver and copper's different records

Published 2026-09-17; updated 2026-09-17.

Between 2023 and August 2026, five widely traded metals moved together and then apart. Gold, silver, platinum, copper and tin all rose for three straight years, but by early 2026 they had split into two groups: gold, silver and platinum spiked to a peak and then fell back by double digits, while copper and tin kept rising into new nominal highs with no pullback at all. Only one of the five, gold, set a record that survives being adjusted for inflation.

A shared climb, then a fork

All five metals rose every year from 2023 to 2025. Gold’s annual average went from $1,942.8 per troy ounce in 2023 to $2,387.6 in 2024 to $3,441.5 in 2025; copper went from $8,490.3 to $9,142.0 to $9,947.4 per tonne over the same three years (World Bank Pink Sheet). Into 2026 the paths diverged. Gold peaked at $5,020 in February 2026 and pulled back to $4,411 by August, a fall of 12.1%. Silver peaked a month earlier, at $92.1 in January 2026, and fell further in percentage terms, 29.0%, to $65.4 by August. Platinum’s peak and fall were close to silver’s: $2,434 in January 2026 down 26.9% to $1,780. Copper and tin did neither: copper closed August 2026 at $14,326 per tonne and tin at $55,385 per tonne, both their own all-time nominal highs, with the series still rising on the month rather than retreating from an earlier top (World Bank Pink Sheet).

Gold, silver and copper, January 2023 to August 2026 Three small line charts share the same time axis from January 2023 to August 2026. Gold rises steadily from about 1,900 dollars per troy ounce to a peak of 5,020 in February 2026, marked with a dot, then falls back to 4,411 by August 2026. Silver rises more steeply, peaking at 92.1 dollars per troy ounce in January 2026, then falls sharply to 65.4 by August 2026. Copper rises with some unevenness to 14,326 dollars per tonne in August 2026, still climbing at the right edge of the chart with no peak-and-fall shape. Each panel is scaled from zero to its own maximum over the period shown. Gold Silver Copper $/troy oz $/troy oz $/tonne 5,020, Feb 2026 92.1, Jan 2026 14,326, Aug 2026 Jan 2023 Aug 2026 Jan 2023 Aug 2026 Jan 2023 Aug 2026 Each panel is scaled from zero to its own peak over the period shown; copper is still rising at the right edge.

Monthly averages from the World Bank Pink Sheet.

Why gold’s record is different from the others

A price that sets a nominal, cash-terms record is common; a price that sets a record after adjusting for inflation is rare, because most series have an older peak from a decade with less monetary inflation behind it but a bigger real shock. Gold’s February 2026 average of $5,020 per ounce converts to roughly $4,809 in 2024 dollars, which is still the highest real monthly average in the World Bank’s series (BLS CPI via FRED). That makes 2026 a genuine record for gold on both measures, something the site’s nominal vs real prices explainer covers in general terms.

Silver and platinum did not repeat that. Silver’s real peak remains January 1980, at $156.45 per ounce in 2024 dollars, set during the Hunt brothers’ attempt to corner the silver market; the January 2026 average of $92.1 was a nominal record but 41% below that real one. Platinum’s real peak, $3,502 in February 1980, was also never approached: the 2026 nominal high of $2,434 sits 30% below it. The 1980 spike in both metals was driven by a specific, short-lived episode of speculative buying rather than by the broader forces at work in 2025–26, so the size of that old peak still sets a high bar; see gold’s drivers and silver’s drivers for what tends to move each metal, and platinum’s drivers for the autocatalyst demand that platinum, unlike gold and silver, still depends on.

Why copper and tin did not pull back

Copper and tin have no comparable investment or reserve-asset demand: central banks do not hold copper, and there is no copper-backed exchange-traded fund of any size. Their prices instead track the balance between mine supply and the manufacturing and construction demand that uses them, a balance that moves in one direction for a season or a year rather than snapping back within months (see copper’s drivers and tin’s drivers). Both remain well short of their own 1970s real peaks: copper’s inflation-adjusted record is about $19,774 per tonne, set in April 1974, and tin’s is about $71,323 per tonne, set in October 1978 (World Bank Pink Sheet; BLS CPI via FRED). A metal can set a new nominal high every month for years and still be cheaper than it once was.

The five series behind this page are on their own price pages: gold, silver, platinum, copper and tin. The general anatomy of a price spike, and why some reverse faster than others, is in why commodity prices spike and commodity supercycles.

Frequently asked questions

How high did gold prices go in 2025 and 2026?

The London PM gold fix averaged $5,020 per troy ounce in February 2026, the highest monthly average on record, after averaging $1,942.8 in 2023, $2,387.6 in 2024 and $3,441.5 in 2025. It had fallen back to $4,411 by August 2026 (World Bank Pink Sheet).

Is gold's 2026 price actually a record, adjusted for inflation?

Yes, almost. Gold's February 2026 average of $5,020 per ounce converts to about $4,809 in 2024 dollars once deflated by the US consumer price index, which is still the highest real monthly average in the series (World Bank Pink Sheet; BLS CPI via FRED). Most commodities that set a nominal record are far below their real one; gold's 2026 peak is one of the rare cases where the two nearly coincide.

Did silver and platinum also hit records?

In cash terms, yes: silver averaged $92.1 per troy ounce in January 2026 and platinum $2,434 in the same month, both series highs. Adjusted for inflation, neither came close: silver's real peak was $156.45 per ounce in January 1980, at the top of the Hunt brothers' attempted corner, and platinum's was $3,502 in February 1980 (World Bank Pink Sheet; BLS CPI via FRED).

Have silver and platinum prices fallen back?

Yes, more than gold has. Silver fell 29.0% from its January 2026 peak of $92.1 to $65.4 in August 2026; platinum fell 26.9% from $2,434 to $1,780 over the same months. Gold fell 12.1% from its February 2026 peak of $5,020 to $4,411 (World Bank Pink Sheet).

Did copper and tin follow the same pattern?

No. Copper's LME cash price and tin's LME cash price both reached new nominal all-time highs in August 2026, $14,326 per tonne and $55,385 per tonne, with no pullback from an earlier peak the way gold, silver and platinum had. Both remain below their own inflation-adjusted records set in the 1970s: copper's real peak was about $19,774 per tonne in April 1974 and tin's about $71,323 per tonne in October 1978 (World Bank Pink Sheet; BLS CPI via FRED).

Why did precious metals rise faster than industrial metals?

Precious metals are held as a store of value as well as used industrially, so investment and central bank demand can move them well beyond what industrial use alone would justify, and the same flows can reverse quickly. Copper and tin have no comparable investment demand: their prices track the physical balance of mining supply against manufacturing and construction use, which moves more slowly in both directions (see the drivers sections on the gold, silver and copper pages).

Related

Cite as: Commodity Origins, "The 2025–26 metals rally: gold, silver and copper's different records", https://commodityorigins.com/learn/the-2025-metals-rally/ (CC BY 4.0).