How to track the value of your physical gold and silver

To track the value of physical gold and silver, record each item by its metal and weight, then multiply that weight by the current spot price. The hard part is keeping the price current, so most people use an app that does it for them. Net Worth Tracker values your metals at the live gold and silver spot price and rolls them into your wider net worth.

What actually decides the value of your metals

Three things set what your bullion is worth on any given day.

• The spot price. This is the live market price for one troy ounce of the metal. It moves every minute the markets are open.
• Weight. Your holding is priced by pure metal content, measured in troy ounces or grams. A one ounce coin and a one ounce bar hold the same metal value.
• Purity. A coin that is 0.999 fine is almost pure. Older or fractional coins may hold less, so the metal value is the coin weight times its fineness.

What you paid over spot, the premium, is a separate matter covered below. The melt value, the raw metal worth, is what most trackers show.

The spreadsheet way, and why it gets tedious

You can track metals in a spreadsheet. List each item, its weight and its purchase price, then add a column that multiplies weight by the current spot. The catch is that last column. Spot changes constantly, so your total is only right on the day you paste in a fresh price. Miss a week and the whole sheet is stale. People start keen and quietly stop updating.

An app fixes the tedious part by fetching spot for you, so the total is right every time you open it.

How to track gold and silver in Net Worth Tracker

1. Add a holding for each metal you own and enter the weight, in ounces or grams.
2. The app values it at the live spot price and shows the current worth straight away.
3. Log what you paid so it can work out your gain, and your average cost if you bought in stages.
4. See your metals as a share of your whole net worth, next to crypto, property and savings, on one dashboard.

You can watch gold and silver on their own price charts too, from the past week out to five years, which is useful when you are deciding whether to add to a position.

Should you track the premium you paid?

It depends what you want to know. If you care about the metal you hold, track melt value at spot. If you care about what you could sell for, remember that dealers pay close to spot for common bullion, and a little over for sought-after coins. Logging your purchase price is the honest way to see the picture: it shows the premium you paid and how much the metal has moved since, rather than flattering the number.

Frequently asked questions

How do I work out what my gold is worth?

Multiply the pure gold weight of your holding, in troy ounces, by the current gold spot price. An app that fetches spot does this for you as the price moves.

Does Net Worth Tracker update metal prices automatically?

Yes. Gold, silver and other supported metals are valued at the live spot price, so your holdings stay current without manual edits.