Silver after 1980: 45 years below the old high
Shortfall of the silver price against its respective all-time high since 1968: after the January 1980 high silver fell by more than 92 per cent, and it took over 45 years for the old peak to be reached again.
Silver after 1980: 45 years below the old high
The area shows how far the silver price sat below its highest level up to that point. Zero means a new all-time high. Unlike gold, what stands out here is not the depth but the duration.
From the high in 01/1980, silver lost 92.8 % by 02/1991. 548 months passed before the old peak was reached again — around 45.7 years, from 01/1980 to 10/2025. Anyone who bought at that high was in the red for half an investing lifetime. Silver currently sits 56.1 % below its high, measured from 01/2026.
Data basis: London silver reference price, daily closing prices in USD per troy ounce, 01/02/1968 to 11/06/2026; shown as monthly values. 🔴 The calculation is nominal in US dollars. Adjusted for inflation, the shortfall from 1980 would not have been made up to this day — so the real picture would be markedly less favourable. For an investor outside the dollar area the exchange rate comes on top. The course shows price levels without purchase and storage costs and without premium; it describes the past and says nothing about future developments.
Where the numbers come from
This chart is calculated from our own price recordings. It is recalculated twice a day — after the daily close and after the London reference price at 16:30.
- our own measurement Our own daily closing prices for the metals — new values every trading day
The Chart view shows the most recently calculated state. The Image version — including the one for sharing and downloading — is a still image generated nightly at 02:30. Last generated on 11/09/2026 at 02:31.
Using this chart
You may embed and pass it on freely — in articles, presentations and on social media — as long as PreciousMetalPrices.com is named as the source and linked to this page. The share button at the top right provides the version with logo and QR code; the switch beside it toggles between the interactive chart and the image.
