Silver has fallen by roughly 60% from its record high, completing one of the sharpest round trips in modern commodity markets. The metal set an all-time high of about $121.62 an ounce on 29 January 2026, then collapsed, and by late October it was trading below $50 for the first time since November 2025.

The scale of the fall is stark. Spot silver closed near $48.90 an ounce on 30 October, down 6.2% on the day and about 19% across October. At that level it was about 60% below the January record and would need to rise by roughly 149% to reclaim it. By 7 November it had steadied, with London spot silver at $51.92 an ounce, still about 57% below the peak.

The crash began with a historic one-day slide. On 30 January silver fell by roughly a quarter in a single session, to about $85, after futures margin requirements were raised and forced selling took hold. The metal then ground lower through the year as expectations of further US interest-rate rises grew and momentum buyers left.

Gold has fallen too, but by far less. Gold traded near $4,070 an ounce on 7 November, roughly 29% below its January record near $5,600. The gold-silver ratio, which measures how many ounces of silver buy one ounce of gold, has jumped to about 79, its highest level of 2026, against about 41 at silver's peak.

The $50 level now matters because it capped silver's price in both 1980 and 2011. Holding above it would suggest the forced selling has run its course; losing it would open the way to a deeper reset. Against that, the Silver Institute forecasts a sixth consecutive annual supply deficit in 2026, of 46.3 million ounces, a reminder that the physical market remains tight even as the paper price has fallen.