Gold and Silver Valuation Spreadsheet

2/6/17

Valuing U.S. Treasuries, bonds, and even stocks, is somewhat simple and reliable. Valuing precious metals, however, is much more difficult.

Many sources will shout "Gold to X!" and "Silver to Y!" I find to sell their latest book and to get traffic and ad revenues by pandering. However, in most cases they only give one or two supporting numbers for their valuation, or don't show any work at all, or use the valuation to make what I believe is a silly price prediction that never comes true, thus damaging their credibility and by proxy the credibility of gold and silver as a solid investment to the public.

This work of mine is different for a variety of reasons. First, I look at gold and silver valuations I've gathered (or created) from all over, not just one. Second, taking individual valuations with a large grain of salt, I report the median of the valuations as "the" valuation at this particular point in time, which is more defendable. Third, I give links to source data when I can and show the exact calculations I'm doing. Fourth, I actually like to talk about assumptions and limitations of the data. Fifth, I use logic. For example, if someone says G/S = 12, so therefore the value of silver is G/12, I say logic also says you have to have a case for the value of gold being G = 12*S. Last, I make very clear the distinction between a valuation and a price prediction.

And did I mention that I've made this gold and silver valuation spreadsheet free for you to download and use as you wish? I didn't? This gold and silver valuation spreadsheet is free for you to download and use as you wish.

The free gold and silver valuation spreadsheet is available for download here. Feel free to add to or take away anything you'd like. I hope this helps with your understanding of gold and silver and also investing in general.