London Fix

The London Fix — known today officially as the LBMA Gold Price and LBMA Silver Price — is the most closely watched reference price in the physical precious-metals market. It dates back to 1919, when five London gold dealers met for the first time to agree a single daily price for gold. Today it serves as the settlement basis for mining contracts, jewellery procurement, central-bank reserves and structured financial products around the globe. You can look up the current gold price and historical price movements here at any time.

How the fixing works

The modern process is entirely electronic and is run by ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) on behalf of the LBMA. Accredited banks and dealers take part in the gold auction. Price discovery proceeds through iterative auction rounds:

1. IBA sets an opening price.
2. Participants submit buy and sell volumes anonymously.
3. The price is adjusted until supply and demand match within a defined tolerance band.
4. Once equilibrium is reached, the figure is published as the official fixing price.

This makes the procedure far more transparent than the old telephone fixing, which was reformed in 2014 (silver) and 2015 (gold) — partly in response to manipulation allegations that led to billion-dollar penalties against several major banks.

Overview: fixing times and metals

Platinum and palladium are fixed through the LPPM (London Platinum and Palladium Market) but follow the same auction principle.

Difference between fixing and spot price

The spot price fluctuates second by second on the global over-the-counter (OTC) markets, whereas the London Fix is a single snapshot taken once a day. The key differences:

• Spot price: a continuous interbank price, tradable around the clock (except at weekends).
• London Fix: a reference price used for contracts, arbitration clauses and accounting.
• Timing: the PM Fix reflects the European afternoon market, by which point US dealers are already active — which is why it is considered particularly liquid and market-representative.

Practical significance

• Mining producers frequently sell their gold output at the PM Fix.
• Jewellery and industrial firms calculate raw-material costs on a fix basis.
• Central banks use fix prices to value their gold reserves.
• ETFs and ETCs such as Xetra-Gold or physically backed funds compute net asset value (NAV) from the PM Fix.
• Arbitration clauses in long-term supply contracts refer explicitly to the LBMA Gold Price PM.

With the Gold Calculator you can value your own quantities against the current price, and daily data going back decades is available for historical fix comparisons.

A history of reform

1919  First telephone gold fixing (5 banks, NM Rothschild)
1968  Two-tier system introduced (official/market-based)
2014  Silver Fix discontinued → LBMA Silver Price (CME/Refinitiv)
2015  Gold fix → electronic IBA auction (LBMA Gold Price)
2014  Platinum/palladium → electronic LPPM fixing

In brief

The London Fix is not a price negotiated between individual dealers but the outcome of a regulated, anonymous auction with global reach. It remains the single most important reference point for physical precious-metal transactions worldwide — even though the second-by-second spot price dominates day-to-day trading.