<p>COMEX vaults held about 330.1 million ounces of silver as of Friday, September 18, 2026. Of that, 97.3 million ounces were registered, or silver with a warrant, ready to deliver against futures contracts. The remaining 232.8 million ounces were eligible. These figures come from the <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/delivery_reports/Silver_stocks.xls">CME Group’s Daily Metal Stocks Report</a>, cross-checked against <a href="https://metalcharts.org/comex/silver">MetalCharts</a>.</p>
<p>Many alarming headlines derive from these numbers. Some report that the vaults are draining. Others claim that COMEX cannot deliver its silver holdings.</p>
<p>This guide will help you sort fact from fiction. You will learn how to read these reports yourself so that you can verify these claims on your own.</p>
<p>There is something we should note before we begin. COMEX stock data tells you about the physical market, but it is <em>not</em> a price signal. We will stick to what the numbers can accurately measure.</p>
<p>COMEX Silver Inventory</p>
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<th class="p-3 text-left text-sm font-semibold">Category</th>
<th class="p-3 text-left text-sm font-semibold">Silver Inventory</th>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Registered Silver</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">97.3 million oz</td>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Eligible Silver</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">232.8 million oz</td>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Total COMEX Silver Inventory</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">330.1 million oz</td>
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<p><em>Data as of September 18, 2026. Source: CME Group Daily Metal Stocks Report.</em></p>
<h2>What Is COMEX Silver Inventory?</h2>
<p>COMEX is the metals exchange owned by CME Group. The exchange lists silver futures, which are contracts to buy or sell silver at a set price on a given date. You can learn the basics in our guide to <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/investment/what-is-the-comex">what the COMEX is</a>.</p>
<p>COMEX silver inventory is the metal held in vaults that the exchange has approved. In the industry, these vaults are called depositories. Crucially, CME Group does not store the silver itself. It entrusts the running of depositories to banks and private vault companies.</p>
<p>Every business day, each depository reports its silver holdings. CME then posts the totals in a single file. Every inventory chart and tracker is built on that daily report.</p>
<p>Not all silver bars qualify to be held in the COMEX silver inventory. A COMEX silver bar must weigh about 1,000 troy ounces and be at least .999 fine, according to <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/rulebook/COMEX/1a/112.pdf">CME’s silver futures rules</a>. These are the same large bars sold as <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/1000-oz-silver-bars/148">COMEX-approved 1,000 oz silver bars</a>.</p>
<h2>Registered vs Eligible Silver: What Each Number Means</h2>
<p>The report splits the silver in each vault into two groups. The difference between these two is one of the key things to know when you read headlines about COMEX.</p>
<h3>Registered Silver</h3>
<p>Registered silver has a warrant attached. A warrant is a document of title. Approved depositories issue it, and it proves who owns a certain set of bars, as the <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/trading/metals/files/comex-gold-warrants-faq.pdf">CME’s warrant FAQ</a> explains.</p>
<p>Only registered silver can be handed over to settle a futures contract. That is the reason why traders watch it so closely. When people say the vaults are draining, they are almost always looking at the registered silver inventory.</p>
<h3>Eligible Silver</h3>
<p>Eligible silver meets all the criteria for COMEX holdings. It even sits in the same approved vaults as registered silver. The difference is that this silver does not have a warrant. It belongs to banks, funds, or other owners who simply store the silver in these places.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://coinweek.com/comex-silver-inventories-fall-below-100-million-ounces-as-physical-demand-tightens-global-market/">CoinWeek</a> puts it, eligible silver “remains outside the deliverable supply unless owners designate it for that purpose.”</p>
<p>That distinction is often left out of the headlines. An owner can move silver from eligible to registered with paperwork alone. The bars never leave the shelf, and the reverse is also true. That means that even if there is a drop in registered silver, it does not inherently mean that metal left the building.</p>
<h3>Combined (Total) Stocks</h3>
<p>Combined stocks are both registered and eligible. The total tells you how much silver COMEX holds. The split tells you how much of it is ready for delivery.</p>
<p>It is easy to be misled if you only monitor one of these numbers. The spring of 2026 provides an example. Between May 21 and June 1, combined stocks rose by about 4.8 million ounces, according to a <a href="https://www.kitco.com/opinion/2026-06-03/comex-silver-vault-just-grew-reason-matters-more-number">Kitco analysis</a>. Registered silver grew by nearly 3 million ounces in that same window.</p>
<p>The Kitco analysis emphasizes that the reason for a change matters more than the degree of change. New metal arriving is not the same thing as a label change on metal already there.</p>
<h2>How to Read the CME Daily Silver Stocks Report</h2>
<p>You don’t need a paid tracker to follow COMEX silver. The raw data is free. Go to the CME’s <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/solutions/clearing/operations-and-deliveries/nymex-delivery-notices.html">Delivery Notices and Stocks page</a> and download the Silver file under Metals Stocks. It opens as a spreadsheet.</p>
<p>Here is how to read it, step by step.</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Find the depository rows.</strong> Each vault gets its own block. Its name appears at the top of that block.</li>
<li><strong>Read the registered and eligible lines.</strong> Each vault shows both groups on separate lines.</li>
<li><strong>Check the columns left to right.</strong> You will see the prior day’s total, then silver received, silver withdrawn, net change, and adjustments. The last column is the new total.</li>
<li><strong>Look at the “Adjustment” column.</strong> This is where transfers between registered and eligible often show up. A big move here with no withdrawal usually means a label change, not metal leaving.</li>
<li><strong>Jump to the bottom.</strong> The final rows add up registered, eligible, and combined silver across all vaults. Those are the numbers trackers quote.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Common Mistakes</h3>
<p>Most false alarms come from one of three errors:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Reading one vault as the whole market.</strong> One depository can lose a lot of silver while others gain it.</li>
<li><strong>Treating a transfer as a withdrawal.</strong> Moving bars from registered to eligible cuts the registered total. But the silver is still in the vault.</li>
<li><strong>Comparing numbers from different days.</strong> Always note the date on the file. A number with no date can’t be checked.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you have ever wondered where to find silver inventory data, this file is the answer. Nearly every chart online starts here.</p>
<h2>COMEX Silver Inventory Chart: Five Years of Vault Data</h2>
<p>One day of data does not tell you much. The trend is the thing that matters. The chart below shows combined COMEX silver stocks, registered plus eligible, from September 2021 to September 2026.</p>
<p><em>Line chart of COMEX silver inventory from 2021 to 2026. Combined stocks rise to a peak near 532 million ounces in September 2025, then fall to about 319 million ounces by June 2026.</em></p>
<p><em>Source: CME Group data via <a href="https://datatrack.trendforce.com/Chart/content/1545/comex-inventory-silver">TrendForce DataTrack</a>. Registered figures from CoinWeek and Kitco.</em></p>
<h3>2021 to 2024: A Slow Decline</h3>
<p>Combined stocks started this period near 359 million ounces. They drifted lower for two years and hit about 266 million ounces in November 2023. Then they slowly rebuilt to about 319 million ounces by the start of 2025.</p>
<h3>2025: A Surge, Then a Reversal</h3>
<p>Early 2025 brought a rush of silver into New York. Fears of U.S. tariffs pulled metal into COMEX vaults, <a href="https://www.mining.com/web/london-bullion-vaults-see-historic-inflows-after-silver-squeeze/">according to MINING.COM</a>. Combined stocks passed 500 million ounces by the end of April. They peaked near 532 million ounces in late September.</p>
<p>Then the flow reversed. In October 2025, London ran short of silver. Prices there rose above New York prices, so traders shipped metal across the Atlantic. About 48 million ounces left COMEX vaults for London that month, per the same MINING.COM report. <a href="https://www.kitco.com/news/article/2025-10-23/london-faces-150-million-oz-silver-shortfall-amid-comex-drain-insider">Kitco</a> tracked the early stage of the move, with stocks falling from about 530 million to 501 million ounces.</p>
<h3>2026: The Two Marked Points</h3>
<p><strong>February 11, 2026.</strong> Combined stocks had fallen to about 386 million ounces. Registered silver dropped to 98,138,005 ounces, per <a href="https://coinweek.com/comex-silver-inventories-fall-below-100-million-ounces-as-physical-demand-tightens-global-market/">CoinWeek</a>. That day alone, 3,256,882 ounces left the registered group. Silver in Shanghai traded roughly $10 above Western spot prices at the time.</p>
<p><strong>June 1, 2026.</strong> Combined stocks hit about 318.7 million ounces, near the 2026 low. Registered silver stood at about 84.6 million ounces, according to <a href="https://www.kitco.com/opinion/2026-06-03/comex-silver-vault-just-grew-reason-matters-more-number">Kitco</a>.</p>
<p><strong>September 2026.</strong> Both numbers have since recovered. Combined stocks reached about 330.1 million ounces by September 17. Registered silver rebuilt to about 97.3 million ounces. That is higher than 62.4 percent of all daily readings since 2020, according to <a href="https://metalcharts.org/comex/silver">MetalCharts</a>.</p>
<h3>What the Chart Shows</h3>
<p>Two different stories run through this data.</p>
<p>Combined stocks fell by about 40 percent from the September 2025 peak to June 2026. That is a real drop. Over 200 million ounces left COMEX vaults. Some of that metal moved to other markets, including about 48 million shipped to London in October 2025 alone. Silver leaving New York is not the same as silver vanishing.</p>
<p>Registered silver tells a calmer story. It fell from February to June, then came back to about where it started. It also grew as a share of the total, from about 25 percent in February to about 29 percent in September. In other words, a bigger slice of COMEX silver is now ready for delivery than at the start of the year.</p>
<p>This is why it pays to read both lines. A headline built on one number can point you the wrong way.</p>
<p>You can compare these swings with price moves on our <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/silver-price">live silver price chart</a>.</p>
<h2>How COMEX Silver Inventory Changes During Delivery</h2>
<p>Most futures traders never take delivery. Instead, traders close or roll their contracts before the delivery month. However, some hold onto the contract and ask for real metal. This is when registered silver enters the equation.</p>
<h3>Contracts, First Notice Day, and “Stood for Delivery”</h3>
<p>One COMEX silver contract equals 5,000 troy ounces, per <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/rulebook/COMEX/1a/112.pdf">CME Rule 112102</a>. That is five bars of about 1,000 ounces each. Each bar may be up to 10 percent heavier or lighter.</p>
<p><strong>First notice day</strong> is the first day a seller can tell the exchange it plans to deliver. Traders who still hold long contracts on that day may be asked to accept silver.</p>
<p>A contract has <strong>stood for delivery</strong> when the buyer keeps it open into the delivery window. The seller then hands over a warrant for registered bars.</p>
<p>Delivery moves a warrant. However, it does not always move the metal itself. After delivery, the new owner can leave the silver registered. They can also shift it to eligible, or withdraw it from the vault. Only a withdrawal lowers the combined total of COMEX’s silver holdings.</p>
<h3>Worked Example: September 2026 First Notice Day</h3>
<p>We’ll break down the essential math investors should know here.</p>
<p>On first notice day for the September 2026 contract, 1,077 contracts stood for delivery.</p>
<ul>
<li>1,077 contracts × 5,000 ounces = 5,385,000 ounces</li>
<li>Registered silver was about 99.3 million ounces on September 1, per <a href="https://thevaultreport.com/metals/silver">The Vault Report</a></li>
<li>5.385 million ÷ 99.3 million = about 5.4 percent</li>
</ul>
<p>So, first notice day called for a little over 5 percent of the silver ready for delivery.</p>
<p>Notices keep coming as the month goes on, so the full-month total is larger. Through September 18, CME recorded 6,168 silver delivery notices in September, about 30.8 million ounces, according to CME's <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/delivery_reports/MetalsIssuesAndStopsYTDReport.pdf">year-to-date delivery report</a>.</p>
<p>That is about a third of registered stock. Yet registered silver barely moved, slipping from about 99.3 million to 97.3 million ounces. Most of the delivered metal changed owners without leaving the vault.</p>
<p>To judge whether a delivery month has truly strained the supply, compare notices to registered stock. Monitor the withdrawal column in the days that follow.</p>
<h2>Why “The Vaults Are Draining” Headlines Keep Coming Back</h2>
<p>A quick search of the term “COMEX silver” on YouTube or Reddit often shows the same phrases over and over again.</p>
<p>“The vaults are draining.”</p>
<p>“COMEX can’t deliver.”</p>
<p>“Is COMEX lying about silver?”</p>
<p>These fears do have some basis in reality. It’s true that registered silver fell sharply in early 2026. However, three habits keep these headlines in the news even when the data changes.</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Registered drops get reported without the eligible side.</strong> A shift from registered to eligible looks like a drain if you only read one line.</li>
<li><strong>One vault gets quoted as the whole market.</strong> A large withdrawal at one depository can be offset by gains at another.</li>
<li><strong>Delivery months get read as crises.</strong> Every contract month brings notices. Big numbers on first notice day are normal, not proof of failure.</li>
</ol>
<p>Be wary of viral figures you see online. Sometimes posts go viral claiming that COMEX has lost an extraordinary amount of silver.</p>
<p>There is a simple fix to avoid false or exaggerated reporting. Before you share a number, find its date and its source. This tells you whether the report is recent and up-to-date. Then, open that day’s CME file and check it.</p>
<h2>Does Low COMEX Inventory Mean a Silver Shortage?</h2>
<p>Not on its own. COMEX is one pool of silver among several. London vaults hold large amounts, and the <a href="https://www.lbma.org.uk/prices-and-data/london-vault-data">LBMA publishes monthly London vault data</a>. Shanghai has its own exchange stocks. Silver funds hold metal too.</p>
<p>A drop at COMEX can mean silver simply moved to another market. It does not necessarily mean that silver vanished from the market. The price gap between Shanghai and New York in February 2026 is an example of metal being pulled toward the places where demand is strongest.</p>
<p>The bigger question of global supply and demand is covered in our guide, <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/investment/is-there-a-silver-shortage">Is There a Silver Shortage?</a></p>
<h3>Frequently Asked Questions</h3>
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<p>As of September 18, 2026, COMEX vaults held about 330.1 million ounces of silver. About 97.3 million ounces were registered and 232.8 million ounces were eligible, based on <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/delivery_reports/Silver_stocks.xls">CME data</a> reported by <a href="https://metalcharts.org/comex/silver">MetalCharts</a>.</p>
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<p>Registered silver has a warrant and can be delivered against futures contracts. In contrast, eligible silver meets COMEX standards but has no warrant. It cannot be delivered until its owner registers it.</p>
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<p>CME posts its Daily Metal Stocks Report each business day on its <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/solutions/clearing/operations-and-deliveries/nymex-delivery-notices.html">Delivery Notices and Stocks page</a>. Each file shows the prior day’s changes by vault.</p>
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<p>One standard COMEX silver futures contract equals 5,000 troy ounces, per <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/rulebook/COMEX/1a/112.pdf">CME Rule 112102</a>. Delivery is made in five bars of about 1,000 ounces each.</p>
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<h5 class="text-2xl mt-8">Read the Numbers, Not the Headlines</h5>
<p>COMEX silver inventory is not a secret or a mystery. The data is free to access. It updates every business day. Once you know the layout, it only takes a few minutes to read.</p>
<p>Registered silver shows what’s ready for delivery. Eligible silver shows what’s stored but not pledged. Combined stocks show the full picture.</p>
<p>Futures inventory is one part of the silver market. Owning physical metal is another. If you’d rather hold silver you can see, browse our <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/buy/silver/bars">silver bars</a> or check today’s <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/silver-price">silver price</a>.</p>
