London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) prices

The London Bullion Market is administered by The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) . It is by far the largest global centre for over the counter wholesale transactions of gold and silver, followed by New York, Zurich and Tokyo. Most of the members of the administering LBMA are major international banks, bullion dealers and refiners. Read more about the LBMA.

Bullion dealers will use either the London Bullion Market Association prices, better known as the ‘London fixed price’, or the live ‘spot price’ when buying and selling metals. The fix price may well differ from the spot price.

London Fix Price

The London Fix price for gold, silver, platinum and palladium is regarded as an authoritative global market price. Investors buying on the gold Fix do not know what the gold price will be before it is declared.

The Fix is set by LBMA members who meet twice a day to agree a price that will clear their outstanding orders. This price then determines ‘The London Fix’. The price is based on trade in gold and other precious metals ‘futures’. This futures price is the price that was agreed for future delivery of the metals.

The London Fixed Price is published on UK working weekdays at 11am and 3pm for gold (midday for silver, 2pm for platinum). Orders are processed the following working day.

To buy gold on the London Fix price please order two hours before the fix time. No prices are issued at the weekend or on certain UK public holidays.

Gold Spot Price

In contrast to the fixed price, ‘Spot Price’ is the current live price in the marketplace for all different precious metals. Inevitably, when an investor buys gold on the Spot Price there is a time lapse between the purchase agreement and the physical exchange of the metal. The price when the investor receives their metal may well have changed from the price he or she agreed. Whether the price rises or falls the dealer and investor have entered a binding agreement at the time the order is placed. The BullionByPost price charts show spot prices, for gold, silver, platinum, palladium and Bitcoin, updated every two minutes, in Pounds Sterling, US Dollars and Euros.

Spot Price buyers and sellers have the advantage of instantly knowing exactly how much they are paying. Fixed price investors have to wait until the fix is announced, but the upside is they may be more confident of a good price in the event of fluctuations.

Dealer Margins

Bullion dealers, like any other traders, exist by buying at a margin below the spot price and selling slightly above. BullionByPost offer a huge range of bullion bars and coins, all at low margins supported by market leading customer service.

The London Bullion Market Association

As well as setting the ‘London fixed price’ and administering The London Bullion Market, the LBMA publishes a list of accredited refiners and sets trading standards for production and assaying, as described in its ‘Good Delivery List’ . Only bullion conforming to these standards is acceptable in transactions on The London Bullion Market. All bullion bars sold by BullionByPost are from LBMA accredited refiners.