LBMA Fixing
Also: London Fix, LBMA Gold Price, LBMA Silver Price
The LBMA Fixing is a reference price for gold and silver set twice daily in London that is used worldwide as the binding benchmark for trading, mining contracts and financial products.
The LBMA Fixing — known today officially as the LBMA Gold Price and LBMA Silver Price — is the world's most important reference price for physical gold and silver. It is set each day in London through a regulated electronic auction and serves mining groups, central banks, jewellery makers, refiners and financial institutions as the binding pricing basis for millions of contracts. You can follow the current gold price and silver price at any time on this website.
Historical development
The London gold fixing has a history stretching back almost a century:
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1919 | First daily gold fixing in London (N M Rothschild & Sons plus four more banks) |
| 1968 | Second daily fixing introduced (PM fix); two-tier market after the Gold Pool collapse |
| 1987 | The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) is founded |
| 2004 | Rothschild withdraws; Barclays Capital takes the seat, in-person meetings end — the fixing runs thereafter as a teleconference with an annually rotating chair |
| 2014 | Manipulation allegations lead to regulatory reform |
| 2015 | ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) takes over administration; new electronic auction model |
The silver fixing existed in its original form from 1897 to 2014 and has run since August 2014 as the electronic LBMA Silver Price. Administration was initially handled by the CME Group together with Thomson Reuters; since 2 October 2017 the LBMA Silver Price — like the gold price — has been administered by ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA).
How does the auction work?
Since the 2015 reform the gold fixing has run as a fully automated electronic auction following a clearly defined algorithm:
Starting price = current OTC spot price (guide value)
Round n:
Participant bids and offers are aggregated
If |demand − supply| ≤ tolerance → fixing price set
Otherwise: price is adjusted → next round
The auction opens with a starting price close to the current spot price and iterates over a few minutes until supply and demand balance within a defined tolerance band. Participants are exclusively LBMA-accredited market makers (Direct Participants) who bid on their own account or for clients.
Daily fixing times (London local time):
- Gold AM fix: 10:30
- Gold PM fix: 15:00
- Silver fix: 12:00
Distinction: fixing price vs. spot price
A common misconception: the fixing price is not identical to the current spot price, even though the two are closely linked.
| Feature | Spot price | LBMA Fixing |
|---|---|---|
| How it is set | Continuously, OTC interbank trading | 2× daily by auction |
| Purpose | Short-term trading, hedging | Contract reference, settlements |
| Binding force | Indicative | Official benchmark |
| Transparency | Varies by provider | Fully published |
| Regulation | Light | FCA-regulated (UK) |
For short-term buying decisions the current spot price is more relevant; for long-term supply contracts or mine off-take agreements, the fixing price is typically referenced.
Significance and use
The LBMA fixing price is applied in a wide variety of contexts:
- Mining contracts: gold producers often sell their output at "PM fix minus X USD/oz".
- Jewellery and industrial off-take: refiners and jewellery makers settle on a fixing basis.
- Central banks: valuation of gold reserves and transactions between central banks.
- ETFs and ETCs: many gold funds (for example physically backed gold ETFs) value their units daily at the LBMA PM fix.
- Derivatives and structured products: options and futures contracts in the OTC market reference the fixing price as their settlement rate.
- Tax valuation: in some jurisdictions the fixing price is used as a valuation basis for inheritance or gift tax (not tax or investment advice; please consult a tax adviser).
The historical fixing prices are publicly available and form one of the most extensive price time-series in the commodities market — gold data reaches back to 1968.
Regulation and integrity
Following the Libor scandal and suspicions of market manipulation in the gold market (2014), the fixing process was fundamentally reformed:
- FCA oversight: as a benchmark administrator, IBA is subject to the UK Financial Conduct Authority.
- Full traceability: every auction round is logged.
- Broadened participation: more accredited banks and trading firms can take part.
- BMR compliance: the process meets the requirements of the EU Benchmarks Regulation (BMR).
Platinum metals: no LBMA fixing
Worth knowing: for platinum and palladium there is no classic gold- or silver-style IBA fixing. For these metals the LBMA Platinum and Palladium Prices are set — twice daily by electronic auction, administered by the London Metal Exchange (LME), which took over this process from the former London Platinum and Palladium Fixing at the end of 2014.
In brief
The LBMA Fixing is the beating heart of the London gold market: a regulated, electronic auction that delivers two binding reference prices for gold and one for silver each day — used by central banks, mines, refiners and financial products around the globe. Anyone buying or selling physical precious metal is, in effect, always trading in the shadow of this benchmark. You can view the current price and the historical price trend on this site at any time and carry on your sums with our gold calculator.