Silver's Delivery System Exposes Structural Gap Between Paper Claims and Metal
The price of Silver has reached near $69.20 an ounce this week, close to its highest levels since May.
However, the more interesting number is what's happening inside COMEX's delivery system three business days before September's silver contract reaches First Notice Day.
On COMEX, each futures contract represents a claim on 5,000 troy ounces of Silver. Most holders never intend to take delivery and instead trade price exposure.
According to CME Group's reporting window, the September 2026 contract still had 32,363 contracts open, which translates to 161.8 million ounces standing against a market with roughly 99.1 million ounces of registered deliverable Silver.
This gap is structurally interesting and has been observed every delivery month, regardless of Fed policy or gold prices.