Micro Gold, Micro Silver, and 1-Ounce Gold Futures

Gold and silver futures are often described as if there were only one size. On COMEX, there are several. The full-size Gold (GC) and Silver (SI) contracts are large in dollar terms. Micro Gold (MGC), Micro Silver (SIL), and 1-Ounce Gold (1OZ) are smaller versions of the same underlying markets. Smaller is not safer. It changes the dollar amount that moves when the price ticks — not the direction of the market, and not whether you can lose more than you deposited.

Contract facts below are from CME Group’s official contract specification pages and related official FAQ and rulebook chapters, reviewed November 10, 2026. Specs, hours, listed months, and margins can change. Confirm current details on cmegroup.com before you trade. This article does not quote current gold or silver prices, or current margin dollar amounts, because those figures go stale.

The sizes, side by side

A troy ounce is the unit used for these metals. Full-size Gold is 100 troy ounces. Micro Gold is 10 troy ounces — one-tenth of GC. 1-Ounce Gold is 1 troy ounce — one-tenth of MGC, and one-hundredth of GC. Ten MGC contracts have the same metal quantity as one GC contract. One hundred 1OZ contracts have the same quantity as one GC contract.

Full-size Silver is 5,000 troy ounces. Micro Silver is 1,000 troy ounces — one-fifth of SI. Five SIL contracts have the same metal quantity as one SI contract.

Main outright-contract specs published by CME Group, reviewed November 10, 2026. Calendar-spread increments, TAS markets, and options are omitted here except where they help explain the outright tick.

Gold contracts

Silver contracts

For SIL, the official specification also lists a finer $0.001 increment ($1.00 per contract) for settlement and for calendar spreads. The outright tick used in ordinary buying and selling is $0.005, or $5.00. COMEX Rule 121102.C sets the outright minimum at $0.005 per ounce. CME reduced it from $0.01 effective September 21, 2020, so older materials may still show $0.01 ($10 per contract).

GC and SI also have specific last-trade clock times on the official pages (12:30 p.m. CT for GC; 12:25 p.m. CT for SI). The MGC and SIL specification pages state the day, not a clock time. Check the current listing and your platform before the contract month winds down.

How a tick translates to profit and loss

The gold contracts do not all use the same tick. GC and MGC move in $0.10 increments per ounce. 1OZ moves in $0.25 increments per ounce. SIL and SI both use a $0.005 outright increment per ounce, but the dollar result differs because the contract units differ.

Hypothetical example (for illustration only — not a current market price, and not a projection of results): Suppose gold is at $2,400.00 an ounce and you are long one contract. A $1.00 rise to $2,401.00 would be a $100 gain on one GC contract (100 ounces × $1), a $10 gain on one MGC contract (10 × $1), and a $1 gain on one 1OZ contract (1 × $1), before commissions and fees. The same move against you would be a loss of those amounts. On 1OZ, a $1.00 rise is four ticks of $0.25, or 4 × $0.25 = $1.00. Ten MGC contracts would match the $100 GC result in this example; one hundred 1OZ contracts would also match it. These figures ignore costs and slippage. Nothing here is a typical result.

Hypothetical silver example (for illustration only): Suppose silver is at $30.00 an ounce and you are long one contract. A $0.10 rise would be a $500 gain on one SI contract (5,000 × $0.10) and a $100 gain on one SIL contract (1,000 × $0.10), before costs. That $0.10 move is 20 outright ticks of $0.005. Five SIL contracts would match the $500 SI result in this example. Again, this is a teaching sketch, not a forecast.

Settlement: delivery versus cash

GC, MGC, SI, and SIL are deliverable. If you hold a long or short position through the delivery process, you are in a physical-delivery contract, not a cash difference. Delivery, when it occurs, can take place on any business day of the delivery month, subject to exchange rules. Gold delivered under GC and MGC must assay to a minimum of 995 fineness; silver under SI must assay to a minimum of 999 fineness. Most retail traders who do not intend to make or take delivery close or roll before they get near last trade and first notice. In a live account, leaving a deliverable metals position open into that window can create a delivery obligation, and your clearing firm may require you to close it or may liquidate it.

1OZ is cash-settled to the corresponding 100-ounce Gold futures contract. You do not receive or deliver gold. You still mark the position to market, and you still take the final settlement. 1OZ also stops trading earlier than GC and MGC: last trade is the third last business day of the month before the contract month. A December 1OZ contract is already done trading in November. If you are comparing months across GC, MGC, and 1OZ, check the symbol month and the last-trade date on each one. They are not interchangeable calendars.

Hours and listed months are not identical

GC, MGC, SI, and SIL trade on CME Globex nearly around the clock, Sunday through Friday, with a daily one-hour maintenance break, as shown in the tables. There is no trading from Friday’s close until Sunday evening.

1OZ is listed for nearly 24/7 trading on Globex, including through the weekend, except for brief scheduled maintenance windows. CME’s official 1OZ FAQ, reviewed November 10, 2026, lists those windows as Saturday 2:00 a.m.–4:00 a.m. CT and Monday through Friday 4:00 p.m.–4:02 p.m. CT, with short pre-open intervals around those breaks. Hours can change. Confirm the current schedule before you rely on overnight or weekend access. Weekend trading also depends on whether your clearing firm and platform support it. Liquidity can still thin out even when the contract is technically open.

Listed months also differ, as the tables show. MGC and 1OZ use the February–December even-month cycle in the nearer two years. GC and SI list many more consecutive months, plus additional mid-year and year-end months further out. SIL’s selected months in the nearest year are not the same set as the MGC cycle. If you are rolling, do not assume the next month you want is listed, or that it has meaningful volume.

Why traders use the smaller contracts — and the main risk

The usual reason to use MGC, SIL, or 1OZ is size. The dollar result of a one-tick or one-dollar move is smaller, so some traders can express a view, or practice, without taking full-size notional. That can be useful. It is not a cushion. Ten Micro Gold contracts recreate the metal quantity of one GC contract; five Micro Silver contracts recreate one SI. Adding contracts because the margin “fits” is how a smaller product becomes a large position.

Margin is a performance bond, not a down payment. Exchange minimums and your clearing firm’s requirements can change. This article does not quote current margin amounts. You can lose more than you deposited. For the mechanics, see Margin and Leverage in Futures. Metals often move on monetary policy, inflation data, and shifts in risk appetite, including when the U.S. stock market is closed. 1OZ’s longer trading window does not remove that risk; it can mean the contract is open when news arrives.

How to practice before you risk capital

A simulated account will not feel like a real one, but it is a reasonable place to learn tick value, the difference between MGC and 1OZ hours, and when a contract month stops trading.

ProFuturesTrader offers a 28-day no-cost demo in a simulated environment, with charts and real-time market data, on desktop or iOS: profuturestrader.com/demo. Featured platforms include ProFuturesTrader by CQG, TradingView, and MetaTrader 5, among others: profuturestrader.com/platforms. Features and fees can change. Demo accounts use simulated funds. Demo results do not reflect real trading and are not indicative of future results.