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Current Gold Price and Gold Rate with Charts & Calculators

As of: 24/08/2026, 01:31 · Update interval: 1 minute ·
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The gold price is the most important indicator in the precious metals market and is closely watched worldwide as a barometer of economic uncertainty. Here you will find the current price per troy ounce in euros and US dollars, updated live during trading hours. The interactive chart shows price development from intraday data to maximum history. The performance table, seasonality analysis and heatmap calendar provide additional perspectives on trends and patterns. With the historical price calculator, you can look up the gold price for any past date. In the comprehensive guide below, learn why central banks hoard gold, how inflation and interest rate policy affect the price, and what to look for when buying bars and coins.

Current Gold Price
Current Gold Price

Here you see the current Gold price per troy ounce (31.1 g) in your selected currency, including daily change in percent and absolute.

Below you find the current exchange rate and the price in the second currency. At the bottom are the prices per gram, troy ounce and kilogram.

Tip: When the market is open, the price updates automatically every minute.

Gold price in EUR · Troy Ounce
3,952.80 €
+0.26 % +10.06 €
Exchange rate EUR / USD
1.1676
-0.01 % -0.0001
Gold price in USD · Troy Ounce
4,615.27 $
+0.25 % +11.37 $
Gram
127.09 €
148.38 $
Troy Ounce
3,952.80 €
4,615.27 $
Kilogram
127,085.47 €
148,384.38 $

Source: Spot

Fear & Greed 75
Greed
Gold Price Chart
Price Chart

Use this chart to follow the Gold price minute by minute or decade by decade. Whichever span you pick, holding the cursor over the line calls up the precise figure recorded on that date.

A row of buttons sits above the chart, from Today at one end to Max at the other. Select a stretch with the mouse to enlarge it. The three cards underneath keep score: highest, lowest and overall change.

Tip: The Today view is built from live ticks, one data point for each minute of the session.

+0.26% 3,952.80
EUR
Current
(24/08/26)
3,952.80 €
Previous Day
(21/08/26)
3,942.75 €
Change
+10.05 € +0.25%
Daily High
(23/08/26)
3,952.80 €
Daily Low
(23/08/26)
3,952.80 €
All-Time High
(29/01/26)
4,616.60 €
Gold Price Change recorded today: Current 3,952.80 € (24/08/26), High 3,952.80 € (23/08/26), Low 3,952.80 € (23/08/26), Change +0.25 %.
Historical Gold Price
Historical Price

Choose any day in the archive and the tool returns the full Gold record for it — where trading opened and closed, how high and how low it went, and what that works out at per gram and per kilogram.

Tip: Choose a date. Where the requested day brought no trading at all, the nearest session on file is returned in its place.

08/21/2026 EUR USD
Open 3,869.62 € 4,518.87 $
High 3,966.06 € 4,631.81 $
Low 3,860.02 € 4,510.27 $
Close 3,942.75 € 4,603.89 $
Gram
126.76 €
148.02 $
Troy Ounce
3,942.75 €
4,603.89 $
Kilogram
126,762.20 €
148,018.64 $

Source: Spot

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Gold Price — free live-price graphic to share from preciousmetalprices.com
Theme
Period
Currency
Unit
Price by Weight
Price by Weight

Here you can see the current gold price converted to different weight units: gram, troy ounce (31.1 g) and kilogram.

The second row shows the price in the other currency for comparison.

Tip: A troy ounce is the international trading unit for precious metals and equals 31.1035 grams.

1 Gram
127.09 €
148.38 $
1 Troy Ounce (31.1g)
3,952.80 €
4,615.27 $
1 Kilogram
127,085.47 €
148,384.38 $

1 Troy Ounce = 31.1035 Grams

Gold Alloys
Gold Alloys

This table shows the current price per gram for various Gold alloys. The fineness indicates how much pure Gold is contained in 1000 parts.

Example: : 750/1000 means 75% pure Gold (for gold this equals 18 carat). The price per gram is calculated according to the fineness.

Fineness Carat Price / Gram
333/1000 8K 42.31 €
585/1000 14K 74.34 €
750/1000 18K 95.30 €
833/1000 20K 105.85 €
900/1000 21,6K 114.36 €
916/1000 22K 116.40 €
999/1000 24K 126.94 €
999.9/1000 Fine Gold 127.07 €
Gold Performance
Gold Performance

The performance table shows how the Gold price has developed over various time periods: from today to 5 years.

You can see the absolute change in both currencies as well as the percentage change. Green values indicate gain, red values indicate loss.

Tip: Compare the EUR and USD performance to identify the impact of the exchange rate.

Period EUR % EUR USD % USD
Today -32.67 € -0.82 % +0.00 $ +0.00 %
7 Days +129.14 € +3.39 % +187.38 $ +4.24 %
30 Days +443.42 € +12.67 % +551.36 $ +13.61 %
since Jan 1 +176.59 € +4.69 % +242.34 $ +5.56 %
1 Year +1,002.65 € +34.10 % +1,198.99 $ +35.21 %
5 Years +2,385.36 € +153.16 % +2,800.29 $ +155.26 %
Two decades of Gold seasonality: Jan came out on top with 4.2 %, while Jun trailed at -1.1 %.
Seasonal Pattern: Gold (20Y)
What is the seasonal chart telling you?

The bars condense two decades of Gold trading into twelve figures, one average result for each calendar month.

A green bar means the month averaged out in profit over that span, a red bar means it averaged out lower.

Tip: These are historical averages. Nothing obliges the coming months to repeat them.

Performance Calendar
Performance Calendar

A year of Gold trading on a grid, with one tinted square for every weekday session from Monday to Friday.

Days that ended in profit are tinted green; days that ended lower are tinted red.

Hovering over a square brings up the closing figure and the change it represents.

Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
CW
9
13
17
21
25
29
33
Mo
We
Fr
Less
More
Other Metals
Other Metals

Here you can find a quick overview of the current prices of the other precious metals. The percentage shows the daily change.

Tip: Click on a metal to go directly to its detail page.

What Is the Gold Price?

The gold price is the market value of one troy ounce, 31.1035 grams, of pure gold. It is quoted worldwide in US dollars and traded around the clock on the spot market. In Ireland the euro figure is the one that matters day to day, and it is simply the dollar quote divided by the prevailing EUR/USD rate.

Gold has served as a store of value, a means of exchange and a monetary anchor for something in the order of five thousand years. No other asset can point to a comparable record. It was money in ancient Egypt and in Rome, and it underpinned the international monetary system well into the twentieth century.

Good to know: Under the Bretton Woods system (1944–1971) the US dollar was tied to gold at a fixed 35 dollars per troy ounce. On 15 August 1971 President Richard Nixon closed that window — the Nixon shock — and the gold price has floated on the open market ever since.

The official reference price today is set twice a day through the LBMA Gold Price auction, run electronically by the ICE Benchmark Administration at 10.30 a.m. and 3 p.m. London time, which is the same clock Dublin keeps. Accredited banks and trading houses submit buy and sell orders until the auction settles on a balancing price, and that figure is then used worldwide to settle contracts, value funds and price central bank business.

Spot Price, the Troy Ounce and Currencies

The spot price is what gold changes hands at for immediate delivery. It is formed continuously at the main venues, above all London's over-the-counter market, COMEX in New York, the Shanghai Gold Exchange and Zurich, and unlike the fix it moves by the second through the whole trading day.

The trading unit is the troy ounce, exactly 31.1035 grams. The name comes from Troyes in France, a medieval fair town where gold and silver were weighed on this system. It is not the same as the ordinary avoirdupois ounce of 28.35 grams, which is still used for everyday goods in the English-speaking world.

Because gold trades in dollars, the euro price paid in Ireland depends on two things at once: the metal and the currency. A weaker euro pushes the price up here even when the dollar quote has not moved at all, and this exchange rate effect has added meaningfully to euro returns in several of the better years of the past two decades.

Gold Price History at a Glance

The gold price has been free to find its own level since August 1971, and in that time a troy ounce has travelled from 35 US dollars to well beyond 2,800 at its peaks. Nothing about that journey was tidy: it came in violent rallies, brutal corrections and long flat stretches where very little happened at all. An Irish saver reading today's quote gets far more out of it once the shape of the past half-century is familiar.

Measured across the whole period since 1971, gold has compounded at roughly 8 per cent a year in dollar terms, and the euro figure has generally been a shade better in the years when the single currency was soft against the dollar. The more telling statistic, though, is a defensive one: in eight of the ten deepest equity bear markets since 1970, gold either gained ground or held its own while shares were being marked down.

Historical Milestones

1971
Nixon ends the gold standard
Gold price is set free — previously fixed at USD 35/oz
1980
First all-time high: USD 850/oz
Hyperinflation, oil crisis, and geopolitical tensions drive gold to record levels
1999
Low point: ~USD 250/oz
Central banks sell off gold reserves, low inflation, tech boom
2008
Financial crisis — gold as safe haven
Lehman collapse triggers flight to gold, beginning of the bull market
2011
New ATH: USD 1,920/oz
Eurozone debt crisis, US debt ceiling, low interest rates push prices higher
2020
COVID record: USD 2,075/oz
Pandemic, massive monetary expansion, and zero interest rate policy
2024/25
Above USD 2,800/oz
Central bank purchases, de-dollarisation, and geopolitical uncertainty

The historical price calculator looks up the gold price on any date in the past. The reference is the LBMA Gold Price, settled twice a day by electronic auction: the AM fix at 10.30 in the morning and the PM fix at 3 p.m., London and Dublin keeping the one clock between them. The PM fix counts as the authoritative daily close and is used the world over to settle funds, central bank business and industrial contracts. Our records hold prices in USD, EUR, GBP and CHF, so the figure can be pulled directly in whatever currency the transaction was done in.

What decides an Irish tax bill is not how long the metal was held but what it cost in the first place. Capital Gains Tax applies at a flat 33 per cent on the gain, the same rate on a disposal after three months as on one after thirty years, and only the first €1,270 of an individual's gains in a tax year escapes the charge; anything above that annual exemption is taxable in full, and the allowance can neither be transferred between spouses nor carried forward (Taxes Consolidation Act 1997). Since no amount of waiting ever makes a sale tax-free, the purchase price is the single figure that separates a taxable gain from a return of your own capital, and where it cannot be evidenced the computation tends to go against you. Looking up the price on the day of purchase is the practical way to reconstruct it, though it is no substitute for receipts or for proper advice. Timing matters too: a disposal made between 1 January and 30 November falls due for payment on 15 December of the same year, while a December disposal is not payable until 31 January following, with the return itself made on Form CG1, or on a Form 11 through ROS. The historical price on the date of transfer also settles the valuation of inherited or gifted gold, since the value taken is the one applying on the date of the inheritance or the gift. The Bretton Woods price of 35 USD per troy ounce (1944–1971) remains a useful anchor for long-run comparisons.

Comparing dates also exposes trends and cycles: where was gold a year ago, five years ago, ten? How did it behave after Lehman Brothers went down in September 2008, at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, or after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022? Setting today's price against those moments is what turns a number into something you can reason about. The parallel USD and EUR view earns its keep here as well, because in certain years the two diverged sharply and the currency effect on its own shifted the euro return by as much as ten percentage points.

Gold Price by Weight and Unit

In the international trade gold is quoted only in troy ounces, yet grams and kilograms are what people actually deal in when buying a bar, a coin or a piece of jewellery. The conversion is simple enough: divide the ounce price by 31.1035 to get the price per gram.

The troy ounce takes its name from Troyes in Champagne, where the great fairs of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries needed a weight system of their own for precious metals. That system outlived the fairs and remains the world standard. At 31.1035 g it is not to be confused with the avoirdupois ounce of 28.3495 g, which is still used for everyday goods across the English-speaking world.

Bar and Coin Sizes You Will Meet

  • 1 Gram Bar — the entry point, though the percentage premium for minting and dealing is steep
  • 1 Troy Ounce (31.1 g) — the most popular investment unit, sold both as a bar and as a coin (Krugerrand, Vienna Philharmonic, Maple Leaf)
  • 100 Gram / 250 Gram Bars — the middle ground between being able to sell in parts and paying a lower premium
  • 1 Kilogram Bar — favoured by larger private holders, and the lowest premium of the everyday sizes
  • 400 oz Bar (approx. 12.4 kg) — the LBMA Good Delivery bar, the working unit between banks and central banks

The Bullion Coins You Are Most Likely to See

Every classic bullion coin holds exactly one troy ounce (31.1035 g) of fine gold, at 999/1000 or better:

  • Krugerrand (South Africa, since 1967) — the oldest of the modern bullion coins, 916.7/1000 fine: an ounce of fine gold alloyed with copper, 33.93 g all in
  • Vienna Philharmonic (Austria, since 1989) — 999.9/1000, and the best-selling gold coin in Europe
  • Maple Leaf (Canada, since 1979) — 999.9/1000, known for its purity and for the security marking on the field
  • American Eagle (USA, since 1986) — 916.7/1000, face value of 50 USD, legal tender
  • Britannia (United Kingdom, since 1987) — 999.9/1000 since 2013, with a well-regarded set of anti-counterfeiting features

The gold price per gram is the unit the Irish jewellery and scrap trade works in from one day to the next: jewellers, buyers and online shops quote the gram price of the particular alloy rather than an ounce price. Investment gold itself is exempt from VAT here, which is not the case for the other three metals.

Troy Ounce Converter

1 troy ounce = 31.1035 grams

Common Investment Products

1 g
Bar
Smallest unit, high premium (~15-20%)
1/4 oz
Coin
Popular denomination, ~7.78 g
1 oz
Coin / Bar
Standard unit, lowest premium
100 g
Bar
Good balance of price and practicality
1 kg
Bar
For larger investments, LBMA-certified

Key Drivers of the Gold Price

The gold price is shaped by a complex interplay of macroeconomic, geopolitical, and market-structural factors. Unlike industrial commodities, physical demand from industry plays only a minor role -- gold is primarily sought after as a monetary metal and store of value.

~8%
Avg. return p.a.
3,352 t
DE gold reserves
~50%
Jewellery demand
1,000+ t
CB purchases/year

Central Banks and Gold Reserves

Since 2010, central banks worldwide have become net buyers of gold -- after two decades as net sellers. The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the Central Bank of Turkey (TCMB) in particular have massively expanded their gold reserves. In 2022 and 2023 alone, central banks each purchased over 1,000 tonnes of gold -- a historic record.

Behind these purchases lies the trend towards de-dollarisation: many emerging economies are diversifying their foreign exchange reserves away from the US dollar and into gold, which carries no counterparty risk and is not subject to sanctions. The United States still reports the largest official holding at 8,133 tonnes, while the national central banks of the euro area together hold well over 10,000 tonnes between them.

Inflation, Real Interest Rates, and Fed Policy

Gold is traditionally regarded as an inflation hedge, since unlike fiat currency it cannot be created at will. What matters most for the gold price, however, is not nominal inflation but real interest rates (nominal rate minus inflation). When real rates are negative -- meaning investors are losing money in real terms on bonds -- the appeal of gold, which yields no interest, increases.

The monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) has the single strongest impact on the gold price. Rate hikes tend to strengthen the dollar and raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold. Rate cuts and quantitative easing (QE) have the opposite effect, pushing gold prices higher.

Geopolitical Crises

Gold is the ultimate safe haven in times of geopolitical uncertainty. Wars, terrorist attacks, and diplomatic crises regularly trigger flights into gold. Recent examples include Russia's invasion of Ukraine (2022), the escalation in the Middle East (2023/2024), and the growing trade conflicts between the United States and China.

US Dollar and Exchange Rates

Since gold is priced in USD, there is a pronounced inverse correlation between the Dollar Index (DXY) and the gold price. A weaker dollar makes gold cheaper for buyers in other currencies, driving demand higher. For European investors, the EUR/USD exchange rate is doubly relevant: it influences both the USD gold price and the conversion into euros.

Jewellery and Industrial Demand

Approximately 50% of annual gold demand comes from the jewellery industry, led by India and China. Seasonal factors play a significant role: the Indian wedding season (October-December), the Diwali festival, and Chinese New Year regularly create demand spikes.

Industrial gold consumption accounts for only about 7-10% of total demand. Gold is used in electronics (contacts, circuit boards, connectors), medical technology (dental prosthetics, diagnostics), and aerospace (reflective coatings).

Gold Performance and Seasonality

Performance Table

Go to table

The performance table sets out how gold has moved over a series of windows: today's change, seven days, thirty days, the year to date, one year and five years. Among the precious metals gold is notable for how little it moves in the short run, and a daily change above 1 per cent is the exception rather than the rule. Stretch the window, however, and the numbers are respectable: since the end of Bretton Woods in 1971 gold has averaged around 8 per cent a year, holding or increasing its value through every serious financial crisis in that period.

The side-by-side euro and dollar figures matter more than they first appear. Gold is quoted internationally in dollars, so the euro price is simply that quote divided by the EUR/USD rate; when the euro weakens, the euro gold price rises even if the dollar figure has not budged. For an investor in Ireland the euro column is the real one, because the euro is what is earned, spent and eventually assessed. That currency effect has been worth as much as ten percentage points in a single year — 2014, 2015 and 2022 are the obvious examples.

The percentages are calculated from the LBMA PM fix as the official daily close, with gains shown in green and losses in red. It pays to resist the pull of the short columns: gold is a long-duration holding whose case is made over years rather than sessions, and the five-year figure also indicates whether today's price sits above or below its medium-term trend. One practical note for anyone holding in Ireland: a gain is charged to Capital Gains Tax at a flat 33 per cent whenever it is realised, with only the first €1,270 of gains in a tax year exempt, so no amount of patience turns a profit into a tax-free one.

Seasonality (20 Years)

Go to chart

The monthly seasonality of gold follows a pattern that has held across decades, tied to cultural events on one side and institutional money on the other. The strong stretch runs from September through to February. Indian jewellers begin restocking in September for the wedding season and for Diwali; India gets through more than 700 tonnes a year, and gold's place in dowries and family gifts makes that demand reliable rather than fashionable. January and February then bring Chinese New Year buying in the largest gold market of them all.

Year-end portfolio rebalancing pulls in the same direction. Asset managers, pension funds and family offices reset their allocations in the final quarter and often lift the gold weighting as insurance for the year ahead, which lends support from October into December. Central banks, working to reserve plans that run on the calendar year, tend to complete their buying in the same window.

The soft patch usually falls between March and June. Physical demand tails off once the winter buying is done, the hot season in India brings fewer weddings, and institutions have finished their opening allocations, which leaves profit-taking to set the tone. July and August are quieter again on thin holiday volumes. Irish holders have a second calendar worth keeping in view: a disposal made up to 30 November falls due for payment on 15 December, whereas one made in December is not payable until the end of the following January.

Performance Calendar (Heatmap)

Go to calendar

The performance calendar lays the daily moves of the gold price out as a colour-coded grid. Gold is the quiet one among the precious metals: a typical day shifts it by about half a per cent, and even on a lively session the change rarely gets past 1.5 per cent. The grid shows that as washed-out greens and reds, because the fierce colour swings you get with silver or palladium are rare in gold.

The runs of consecutive colours are where the calendar earns its keep. A string of green days points to a trend that is still intact, usually fed by central bank buying, a geopolitical flare-up or expectations of rate cuts, while a red run marks a correction, often set off by strong US data, a Fed that sounds hawkish or a firmer dollar. The closing value behind each cell is the London PM fix at 3 p.m., which in Ireland lands in the middle of the working afternoon rather than at the close of business.

Weekend gaps show up here as well. Gold trades almost around the clock, and Asian dealing opens on Sunday evening before London gets going, so anything that breaks over a weekend can leave a visible step in the grid. For anyone holding for the long haul, the calendar is a quick read on whether a month or a quarter was calm or choppy, and on whether the trend in place is gathering pace or running out of it.

Investing in Gold

Gold can be acquired in several ways -- each with its own advantages and disadvantages regarding costs, security, liquidity, and tax treatment. The right choice depends on the investment amount, time horizon, and personal preferences.

Physical Gold: Bars and Coins

Buying physical gold bars and coins offers the advantage of direct ownership with no counterparty risk. Before you part with any money, work through a short checklist: the bar or coin should come from a refiner on the LBMA Good Delivery List; the seller should quote a buying price alongside the selling price every day, put its buy-back terms in writing, hold a registered company number you can look up, and be a member of an established trade body.

  • Premium: Selling price above spot price -- typically 2-4% for 1 oz bars, up to 15-20% for 1 g bars
  • Storage: Home safe (check your insurance!), bank safe deposit box (EUR 50-200/year), or a professional high-security vault — what counts here is segregated (allocated) metal held in your own name, insurance cover you can see in writing, an independent inventory audit, and the option to take physical delivery whenever you wish
  • Liquidity: Investment coins and LBMA bars can be sold at any time through dealers or online, typically with a spread of 1-3%

Gold ETCs and ETFs

Exchange-traded gold securities give you price exposure through an ordinary brokerage account, with no bars to store and no insurance to arrange. A good few of the products Irish investors meet are themselves domiciled here:

  • iShares Physical Gold ETC (IE00B4ND3602) -- Irish-domiciled and among the largest physically backed gold ETCs in Europe
  • Invesco Physical Gold ETC (IE00B579F325) -- Irish-domiciled, backed by allocated LBMA Good Delivery bars
  • WisdomTree Physical Gold -- One of the longest-running European gold ETCs, with lines quoted in euro, sterling and dollars

Mind the wrapper: An ETC is a security, not metal in your hand, and the tax rules follow the legal shape of the security rather than the gold behind it. Because Ireland grants no relief for length of ownership, holding on for another year changes nothing either way. Read the prospectus and the key information document to see whether the product is structured as a debt security or as a fund, and take advice if the position is not clear-cut.

Gold Mining Stocks and Funds

Shares in gold producers such as Barrick Gold, Newmont, Agnico Eagle, or Franco-Nevada offer leveraged exposure to the gold price: rising gold prices disproportionately increase profit margins. However, mining stocks carry additional risks -- operational problems, political risks in producing countries, rising production costs, and general equity market risk.

Gold vs. Silver and Other Precious Metals

Gold occupies a unique position among precious metals as a monetary metal. While silver, platinum, and palladium are heavily dependent on industrial demand, gold is primarily sought as a store of value and a hedge.

Criterion Gold Silver
Industrial share7-10%~55%
VolatilityMediumHigh
VAT (Ireland)Exempt (investment gold)23% standard rate
Relative storage costLowHigh
Gold/silver ratioHistorically 40-90, currently around 80-85
Portfolio recommendation5-15% of portfolio0-5% of portfolio

Gold Alloys and Purity

Pure gold at 999.9/1000 is far too soft for most jewellery, so it is alloyed with other metals to harden it, help it wear and give it colour. Fineness states the gold content in parts per thousand, while the carat system expresses the same thing in twenty-fourths.

Carats and Fineness

  • 24 Carat (999.9/1000) — fine gold for investment bars and coins, and far too soft to be worn
  • 22 Carat (916/1000) — Krugerrand, American Eagle and the traditional wedding jewellery of Turkey and South Asia
  • 18 Carat (750/1000) — the quality end of the jewellery trade and the most popular alloy internationally
  • 14 Carat (585/1000) — widely used across continental Europe, a sound compromise between value and durability
  • 9 Carat (375/1000) — the everyday standard in Irish and British jewellery, far less common on the continent
  • 8 Carat (333/1000) — still sold as gold in a few markets, but below the finenesses recognised for hallmarking here

Colour Through Alloying

The choice of alloying metal decides the colour, and in the jewellery trade that decision matters as much as the fineness does:

  • Yellow Gold — the classic, gold alloyed with copper and silver in roughly equal measure
  • Red Gold / Rose Gold — a heavier copper content gives the warm reddish tone that has been in fashion these past few years
  • White Gold — alloyed with palladium (better quality, low in nickel) or with nickel (cheaper, with the allergy risk that carries), and usually rhodium-plated
  • Green Gold — a high silver content leaves a greenish cast; rare, and unusual to see worn

Hallmarking and the Dublin Assay Office

Ireland is one of the few countries where hallmarking is compulsory rather than optional: articles of precious metal offered for sale here must be assayed and struck by the Assay Office at Dublin Castle, which works under the Hallmarking Act 1981 and has been doing the job since 1637, making it the oldest office of its kind still in operation. Expect the fineness mark, 750 for instance, the Hibernia mark and a date letter beside the maker's mark. The United Kingdom runs a comparable system through its own assay offices, and Switzerland has the Federal Precious Metals Control Office. On investment bars, LBMA certification does much the same job.

For investors: Ireland applies the EU definition of investment gold (VATCA 2010): bars and wafers of at least 995/1000, and gold coins of at least 900/1000 struck after 1800 that are or have been legal tender in their country of origin. Anything answering that description is exempt from VAT here, which takes in the Maple Leaf and the Philharmonic at 999.9 just as readily as the Krugerrand and the Eagle at 916.7.

Gold and Tax in Ireland

Two separate taxes touch gold in this country, and it helps to keep them apart. VAT decides what you pay when you buy; capital gains tax decides what Revenue looks for when you sell. Gold comes off well on the first and is treated like any other asset on the second. The outline below is general information rather than tax advice -- your own circumstances, and Revenue's own guidance, come first.

VAT: Investment Gold Carries None

Investment gold is exempt from VAT here under Schedule 1, paragraph 9(1) of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010, read with section 90 of the same Act. The exemption covers:

  • Gold bars with a minimum fineness of 995/1000 from LBMA-accredited refiners
  • Gold coins minted after 1800, minimum 900/1000 fineness, legal tender

Every bullion coin you are likely to be offered -- Krugerrand, Maple Leaf, Philharmonic, Eagle, Britannia, Sovereign -- clears those thresholds, so the price on the invoice is the price. Silver, platinum and palladium get no equivalent relief and carry the standard rate of 23%.

Capital Gains Tax: Waiting Buys You Nothing

There is no holding period in Irish capital gains tax, and this is the single point worth taking away. Sell after three weeks or after thirty years and the calculation is identical: disposal proceeds, less what you actually paid for the metal, less the incidental costs of buying and selling. The resulting chargeable gain is charged at a flat 33% under section 28 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. What does reduce the bill is the annual exempt amount in section 601 -- the first EUR 1,270 of an individual's chargeable gains in a tax year is free of CGT. It is a true allowance rather than a threshold: on a gain of EUR 5,000 you are taxed on EUR 3,730, not on the whole EUR 5,000. It is personal to you, it cannot be handed to a spouse or civil partner, and any part of it you do not use in the year is simply lost. The practical consequence is that your receipts matter far more than your patience: keep the purchase invoice, because without documented cost the gain Revenue sees is larger than the gain you actually made.

Holding period
None at all
Selling later changes nothing
Rate on the chargeable gain
33% flat
TCA 1997, section 28
Gain < EUR 1,270
Nothing to pay
Only the excess is taxed

Do not carry British advice across the water: the United Kingdom leaves gains on Sovereigns struck from 1837 and on the whole Britannia range outside Capital Gains Tax, because those coins are sterling legal tender there (s. 21(1)(b) TCGA 1992). Ireland has no such relief. A Sovereign sold in Dublin is a chargeable asset exactly like a Krugerrand or a kilo bar, and the same flat 33% applies. Irish buyers read a great deal of British bullion writing, and this is the point at which it stops being true.

Paper Gold Is a Different Animal

Check the structure, not the metal: The VAT exemption for investment gold attaches to the metal itself, so it says nothing about a listed security that merely tracks the metal. On the gains side, Ireland taxes a debt security and a fund interest under quite different regimes, and a physically backed ETC can be drafted either way depending on the issuer. Nothing in this turns on how long you hold the position, since there is no holding-period relief to be had. If the prospectus and the key information document do not make the position obvious, put the question to Revenue or to a tax adviser before you sell rather than afterwards.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Gold Price

What is a troy ounce?
A troy ounce (abbreviation: oz t) weighs exactly 31.1035 grams and is the international standard unit of measurement for trading precious metals. The name derives from the French trading city of Troyes, where this weight system was established during the Middle Ages. It is heavier than the common avoirdupois ounce (28.35 g) used for everyday goods in English-speaking countries. When people refer to the "gold price," they always mean the price per troy ounce.
When is the gold price set?
There are two official LBMA fixings per day: at 10:30 AM and 3:00 PM London time (11:30 AM and 4:00 PM CET). These are conducted by the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) through an electronic auction process and serve as the global benchmark price. In addition, the spot price is formed around the clock at international trading venues (London, New York COMEX, Shanghai SGE) and changes by the second.
Why do EUR and USD performance differ?
Gold is traded internationally in US dollars. The euro gold price results from dividing the USD price by the EUR/USD exchange rate. When the euro weakens against the dollar, the gold price in euros rises -- even if the USD gold price remains stable. In years with a weak euro (e.g. 2014, 2022), the EUR return on gold was therefore significantly higher than the USD return. This exchange rate effect can amount to 5-10 percentage points per year.
Is gold a good investment?
Gold has proven to be a reliable inflation hedge and crisis insurance over the long term. Since 1971, it has delivered an average return of approximately 8% per year. The main drawback: gold generates no ongoing income (dividends, interest). Most financial experts recommend a gold allocation of 5-15% of the total portfolio as a stability anchor. Gold is not suitable as a sole investment, but rather as a complement to equities and bonds.
What is the difference between spot price and LBMA fixing?
The spot price is the current market price at which gold is traded for immediate delivery. It changes continuously during trading hours. The LBMA Gold Price fixing, on the other hand, is an official benchmark price determined twice daily through an electronic auction process. The fixing serves as a reference for contracts, ETF valuations, and central bank transactions. The deviation is typically only a few dollars.
How do I store gold safely?
For physical gold, there are three common storage options: A home safe (at least resistance grade I per EN 1143-1, securely anchored) provides immediate access but requires adjusting your home contents insurance. A bank safe deposit box (approx. EUR 50-200/year) offers high security but is only accessible during banking hours. Professional precious metals storage vaults offer high-security custody with full insurance for 0.1-0.5% p.a. in storage fees; a sound provider will hold the metal in segregated (allocated) form under your own name, show you written evidence of insurance, commission an independent audit of the vault holdings, allow you to request physical delivery at any time, and name the governing law in the contract.
Why is investment gold VAT-exempt?
The exemption sits in Schedule 1, paragraph 9(1) of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010, which brings the EU investment gold regime into Irish law. Gold of investment grade is treated as a quasi-monetary asset, closer to a foreign currency or a security than to an ordinary commodity, so charging VAT on it would make little sense. The relief is narrow: bars must be at least 995/1000 fine and coins at least 900/1000 and minted after 1800. Jewellery, and any bar below 995/1000, falls outside it and carries the standard rate of 23% -- the same rate that applies to silver, platinum and palladium, which is why gold is by some distance the cheapest metal to buy in Ireland.
What is the gold-to-silver ratio?
The gold-to-silver ratio (gold/silver ratio) indicates how many ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold. Historically, it has ranged from 15:1 (bimetallic standard, 19th century) to over 120:1 (COVID crisis 2020). The long-term average is around 60-65:1, and it currently stands at 80-90:1. A high ratio (>80) suggests that silver is undervalued relative to gold.

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