Silver Futures Contract Specifications (SI)
COMEX silver is a 5,000 troy ounce contract. One tick is half a cent per ounce, worth $25 per contract. It is the most volatile of the precious metals on a percentage basis, which makes its tick value worth knowing precisely.
Specifications
| Contract unit | 5,000 oz |
| Exchange | COMEX/CME |
| Symbol | SI |
| Tick size | 0.005 |
| Tick value | $25 |
| Point value | $5,000.00 |
| Delivery months | F,H,K,N,U,Z |
Margin is set by the exchange and your broker and changes with volatility — it is deliberately not listed here. Use the margin calculator with your broker's live figure.
The contract family
| Contract | Symbol | Size | Tick value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | SI | 5,000 oz | $25.00 |
| E-mini Silver | QI | 2,500 oz | $31.25 |
| E-micro Silver | SIL | 1,000 oz | $10.00 |
| 100-Ounce Silver | SIC | 100 oz | $1.00 |
Watch the E-mini. QI is half the size of SI but has a larger tick value ($31.25 vs $25.00) because its minimum increment is 1.25 cents rather than half a cent. Smaller contract, bigger tick — the same trap as QO in gold.
One point versus one tick
Silver quotes in dollars per ounce to three decimals in some feeds and two in others. One full point is $5,000 per contract. One tick — half a cent — is $25. A one-dollar move in silver is $5,000 on SI and $1,000 on SIL, which is why retail traders overwhelmingly use the micro.
Why silver is not just "cheaper gold"
- Half its demand is industrial — solar, electronics, and increasingly electrification, so it responds to growth data in a way gold does not
- The market is far smaller — the silver market is roughly a tenth of gold's by value, so the same flow moves it much further
- It trades with the gold/silver ratio — a mean-reverting relationship that is itself a popular spread trade
- Volatility is higher — daily percentage moves that would be extreme in gold are routine in silver
Delivery and liquidity
SI lists January, March, May, July, September and December (F, H, K, N, U, Z). The most liquid months are typically March, May, July, September and December. Liquidity is heavily concentrated in the front active month, and open interest migrates in the two weeks before first notice day.
More metals contracts
- E-mini Copper (QC) — 12,500 lbs, $25 per tick
- E-mini Silver (QI) — 2,500 oz, $31.25 per tick
- Copper (HG) — 25,000 lbs, $12.50 per tick
- E-mini Gold (QO) — 50 oz, $12.50 per tick
- Gold (GC) — 100 oz, $10 per tick
- E-micro Silver (SIL) — 1,000 oz, $10 per tick
Full list: all 135 contract specifications.
Frequently asked
How much is a one-cent move in silver?
$50 per SI contract (5,000 oz × $0.01). On SIL it is $10.
What is the smallest move in silver futures?
Half a cent per ounce — $25 on SI, $10 on SIL.