Free calculator
Return calculator
Backtest buying gold or silver every month since any year, with real monthly prices, our own premiums and what we'd pay you today. Or project one purchase forward at a growth rate you choose.
Backtest: a fixed amount every month since a past year
Real monthly prices, our premiums and today's buy price. Change the metal, product, amount and start year.
$200 a month in 1 oz gold coins from January 2016 to October 2026 (130 purchases, $26,000 in total) would have bought 14.4 oz of gold. Sold to us today it would fetch about $54,328: a gain of $28,328 (+109%), or +13.0% a year.
- You paid in$26,000incl. $878 of premiums
- Metal bought14.4 ozavg $1,805.22/oz all-in
- Worth at spot now$56,591$3,929.23/oz (Nov 3, 2026 close)
- If sold to us today$54,32896% of spot · assumed
How this is worked out. Each month's $200 buys metal at that month's average spot price plus the premium for 1 oz gold coins. Premiums: our own monthly median for 1 oz gold coins from November 2024 to September 2026 (2.7% to 4.1%, from our price records); for earlier months (107 of the 130 here) we assume a fixed 3.5%, the two-year median. Real premiums in earlier years differed, sometimes by a lot.
The sale uses an assumed 96% of spot, typical of our buy prices for gold bullion in October 2026, because live buy prices could not be loaded. Fractions of an ounce are allowed; shipping, sales tax, storage and insurance are left out. Spot prices: monthly averages of the LBMA benchmark through September 2026, then our own 5 pm New York closes. Past results, not a forecast or advice.
Gold return calculator
Quick scenario estimator at $3,940.90/oz · fallback spot.
Starting rate: 10.5% a year, gold's compound change from January 2000 to October 2026 (monthly average prices, data retrieved November 3, 2026). A past average, not a forecast: change it to test other scenarios.
Educational projection only. Real returns depend on premium at purchase, spread at sale, storage cost, and actual price movement — none of which are guaranteed.
What this tells you (and doesn't)
The backtest replays the past: each month's money buys metal at that month's average spot price plus a premium, and the total is valued at today's price, including the spread when you sell. It shows what really happened to a steady buyer, not what will happen next. The projection is a scenario tool: it grows one purchase at a rate you choose. Neither is a forecast or investment advice.
Long-run growth, from the price data
Gold's average monthly price went from $284.32 in January 2000 to $4,104.23 in October 2026: about 10.5% a year (compound, before premiums and selling costs). Since April 1968 the rate is 8.3% a year. Silver: 9.4% a year since January 2000 and 5.8% since January 1968. Platinum: 5.0% and palladium: 3.4% a year since January 2000. The projection starts with the since-2000 rate for the chosen metal; change it to test other scenarios.
Computed from monthly averages of the LBMA benchmark prices through September 28, 2026, then Bullion Trading LLC's own 5 pm New York closes; data retrieved 2026-11-03. Premiums in the backtest: monthly medians from our price records, exported 2026-10-21 (method on our premiums over spot page). See the methodology, and for the month-by-month record the gold and silver price history.
What the numbers leave out
Real results also depend on the exact product and day you bought, shipping and insurance, sales tax in your state, storage, and whether you could buy fractions of an ounce. Past premiums before late 2024 are an assumption. For today's prices, see live spot prices, premiums over spot and what we pay today.