<p>The Hunt brothers’ silver buying spree became one of the most dramatic episodes in precious metals history. In the late 1970s, Texas oil heirs Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt accumulated enormous positions in physical silver and futures, helping drive silver from under $10 an ounce to nearly $50 by January 1980.</p>
<p>Then the trade unraveled. Exchanges changed their trading rules, lenders pulled back, and silver eventually closed at $10.80 on March 27, 1980. The day became known as Silver Thursday. A federal jury later found the Hunts liable for manipulating the silver market.</p>
<div class="prose mt-6 max-w-none rounded border border-slate-200 bg-slate-50 p-8">
<h3 class="mt-0 text-lg text-slate-700 uppercase">Key takeaways</h3>
<ul class="mb-0">
<li>By January 1, 1980, the Hunts and their partners controlled about 195 million ounces of silver. About half of it was in futures contracts, not metal. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia, citing the SEC’s 1982 report</a>)</li>
<li>Silver peaked at $49.45 on January 17, 1980. (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Silver-Thursday">Britannica</a>) It closed at $10.80 on March 27, a drop of about 78%. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia</a>)</li>
<li>In 1988, a federal jury found three Hunt brothers liable in a case brought by Peru’s state mining company. Damages came to about $134 million. (<a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/08/20/Hunts-guilty-in-silver-hoarding-case/2155588052800/">UPI</a>)</li>
<li>In 1989, regulators fined Bunker and Herbert Hunt and banned them from trading commodities. (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Silver-Thursday">Britannica</a>)</li>
<li>In October 2025, London’s silver price jumped $3 above New York’s. Money Metals noted that the last premium like it came during the Hunt squeeze. (<a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2025/10/13/squeeze-in-progress-as-silver-prices-scale-record-highs-004406">Money Metals</a>)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2>Who Were the Hunt Brothers?</h2>
<p>Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt were the sons of H.L. Hunt, one of the richest oilmen in America at the time. Nelson Bunker was the eldest brother, born in 1926, while William Herbert was born in 1929. They had a younger brother, Lamar, who went on to <a href="https://www.chiefs.com/team/ownership/lamarhuntsr">found the Kansas City Chiefs</a>. He was named in a later lawsuit alongside his brothers for manipulating the silver market.</p>
<p>This brings up a question: why silver?</p>
<p>The answer is that the brothers expected high inflation and saw silver as a hedge.</p>
<p>The answer had to do with the U.S. economic condition and geopolitical concerns. They expected that high inflation would continue and they saw silver as a hedge against it. At the time, it was illegal for Americans to own gold bullion. President Franklin Roosevelt’s <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-6102-forbidding-the-hoarding-gold-coin-gold-bullion-and-gold-certificates">Executive Order 6102</a> remained in effect.</p>
<p>Their concern over coming inflation grew in 1973. The Hunt brothers owned oil fields in Libya, but the nation’s leader Muammar al-Qaddafi <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Silver-Thursday">seized control of these fields</a>.</p>
<p>Some dealers today sympathize with the Hunt brothers and emphasize this part of their story. In their view, the Hunts were rational investors who feared a falling dollar. Those were not baseless fears given the state of inflation in the 70s.</p>
<p>However, the Hunt brothers built up such a strong position that many would argue they went beyond merely hedging and investing. Instead, they moved into speculation and hoarding.</p>
<h2>How the Hunts Built Their Silver Position (1973 to 1979)</h2>
<p>In late 1973, Bunker Hunt bought an estimated 20 million ounces. By early 1974, the family held about 50 million ounces.</p>
<p>The court documents show that the Hunts took out sizable loans to purchase this quantity of silver. Even their wealth would not be enough to purchase so much out of pocket.</p>
<p>With their physical silver holdings built, the Hunts moved into futures. A futures contract is a promise to buy or sell silver at a set price on a set date.</p>
<p>Most traders sell before the date. The Hunts often did the opposite. They took delivery of the metal.</p>
<p>This move pulled silver out of exchange warehouses and made it harder for short sellers to cover. Taking delivery further tightened the amount of silver available to the market.</p>
<h3>How Much Silver Did the Hunt Brothers Own?</h3>
<p>The SEC studied the crisis in a staff report released in October 1982. (<a href="https://www.sechistorical.org/collection/papers/1980/1982_1001_SECSilverCrisis_01.pdf">SEC Staff Report: The Silver Crisis of 1980</a>) Its figures cover the Hunts and the investors who traded with them.</p>
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<th class="p-3 text-left text-sm font-semibold">Date</th>
<th class="p-3 text-left text-sm font-semibold">Hunt-related silver position</th>
<th class="p-3 text-left text-sm font-semibold">What it included</th>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Late 1973</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">About 20 million oz</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Bunker Hunt’s purchases</td>
</tr>
<tr class="divide-x divide-slate-200 even:bg-slate-50">
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Early 1974</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">About 50 million oz</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Family holdings</td>
</tr>
<tr class="divide-x divide-slate-200 even:bg-slate-50">
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">July 31, 1979</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">About 123 million oz</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Physical silver plus futures</td>
</tr>
<tr class="divide-x divide-slate-200 even:bg-slate-50">
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">January 1, 1980</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">About 195 million oz</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">About half in futures, about half physical</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p><em>Source: SEC Staff Report (1982), as summarized by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia</a>.</em></p>
<h3>Why the numbers you see online don’t match</h3>
<p>You will find very different figures for the Hunts’ silver. Some sites say 195 million ounces. Others say about a third of the market. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Silver-Thursday">Britannica</a> says about 70% of the world’s supply.</p>
<p>The gap comes from what gets counted. Some figures count only metal. Others add futures contracts, which are claims on metal. Some only count the brothers themselves, but others add their partners.</p>
<p>The fairest way to say it: the Hunts held a very large share of privately held silver stocks, with about half of their position in futures. They did not own most of the silver in the world. Much of the world’s silver sits in jewelry, silverware, and industry.</p>
<h2>What Is a Silver Squeeze, and Why Does 1980 Keep Coming Up?</h2>
<p>A silver squeeze happens when buyers want more silver than sellers can deliver right away. Buyers who need metal immediately will bid higher for it. Sellers who promised metal they no longer have must scramble to find more.</p>
<p>The result is that prices and premiums jump fast.</p>
<p>A recent example of a silver squeeze occurred in October 2025. In London, where major over-the-counter transactions occur in real time, the cost to borrow silver overnight rose to “well over 100 percent” a year. The gap between buying and <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2025/10/13/squeeze-in-progress-as-silver-prices-scale-record-highs-004406">selling prices grew</a> from about 3 cents to more than 20 cents an ounce.</p>
<p>News stories reached for a comparison, and they often landed on one famous example: the Hunt brothers. That is why so many headlines keep bringing up 1980.</p>
<p>The Hunt Brothers prompted the first major silver squeeze in modern history. However, there have been two other notable occurrences in 2021 and 2025. Each one ended in a similar way: as prices spiked, exchanges raised the cash amount that traders had to put up to hold futures. Those margin hikes helped end each run.</p>
<p>If you want to know whether silver is scarce today, see our guide: <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/investment/is-there-a-silver-shortage">Is there a silver shortage?</a></p>
<h2>Hunt Brothers Silver Price Chart, 1979 to 1980</h2>
<p>Silver traded below $10 an ounce before August 1979. It rose to $34.45 by December 31. Then it climbed past $49 in January. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia</a>; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Silver-Thursday">Britannica</a>)</p>
<p>The fall was nearly as fast. Here are the key dates.</p>
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<th class="p-3 text-left text-sm font-semibold">Event</th>
<th class="p-3 text-left text-sm font-semibold">Silver price</th>
<th class="p-3 text-left text-sm font-semibold">Source</th>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Before Aug. 1979</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Rally begins</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Under $10</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia</a></td>
</tr>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Sept. 1979</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Prices climb</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">About $11</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Bunker_Hunt">Wikipedia</a></td>
</tr>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Dec. 31, 1979</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Year-end</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">$34.45</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia</a></td>
</tr>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Jan. 7, 1980</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">COMEX sets position limits</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Rising</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/693/58/2357549/">Minpeco v. Hunt</a></td>
</tr>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Jan. 17, 1980</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Record peak</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">$49.45</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Silver-Thursday">Britannica</a></td>
</tr>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Jan. 21, 1980</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">COMEX allows “liquidation only” trading</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Near peak</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/693/58/2357549/">Minpeco v. Hunt</a></td>
</tr>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Jan. 22, 1980</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Spot price falls about $10</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">About $34</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia</a></td>
</tr>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Early March 1980</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Choppy trading</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">$31 to $38.50</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia</a></td>
</tr>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Mar. 10, 1980</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Slide resumes</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">$29.75</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="divide-x divide-slate-200 even:bg-slate-50">
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Mar. 14, 1980</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Fed asks banks to limit loans for commodity speculation</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Falling</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><a href="https://www.richmondfed.org/~/media/richmondfedorg/publications/research/economic_review/1990/pdf/er760603.pdf">Richmond Fed</a></td>
</tr>
<tr class="divide-x divide-slate-200 even:bg-slate-50">
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Mar. 27, 1980</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Silver Thursday close</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">$10.80</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>From the January peak to Silver Thursday, silver lost about 78% of its value. From March 10 to March 27, it fell about 64% in 17 days.</p>
<p>One note on the peak. Bloomberg reports that the 1980 high was set on a Chicago Board of Trade contract that no longer exists. That is why sources list slightly different peak prices. For today’s price, see our <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/silver-price">live silver price chart</a>. For the long view, see our <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/silver-price-history">silver price history</a>.</p>
<h2>How the Exchanges and Regulators Responded</h2>
<p>The exchanges acted in steps.</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Position limits (January 7, 1980).</strong> COMEX capped how many contracts one trader could hold. (<a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/693/58/2357549/">Minpeco v. Hunt</a>)</li>
<li><strong>Higher margins.</strong> Exchanges raised the cash traders had to post to hold silver futures. As prices rose, holding a big position got much more expensive.</li>
<li><strong>Liquidation only (January 21, 1980).</strong> COMEX limited trading to orders that closed out positions. No one could open new long positions. (<a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/693/58/2357549/">Minpeco v. Hunt</a>)</li>
</ol>
<p>Silver fell by about $10 the next day.</p>
<p>Then, on March 14, 1980, the Federal Reserve launched a credit restraint program. It told banks to avoid “<a href="https://www.richmondfed.org/~/media/richmondfedorg/publications/research/economic_review/1990/pdf/er760603.pdf">lending for speculative purposes</a> (e.g. speculative purchases of commodities or precious metals).”</p>
<p>The Hunts had funded their silver acquisition strategy by taking out loans to buy silver. The Federal Reserve’s credit restraint program made that money much harder to get.</p>
<h3>“They Changed the Rules”: The Claim vs. the Record</h3>
<p>Many silver fans believe the exchanges changed the rules mid-game to save short sellers. There is some truth in that. The rule changes did come while the Hunts were winning. But the record adds context.</p>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">“The exchanges shut the Hunts down.”</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">COMEX limited new buying on January 21, 1980. The Hunts could still hold or sell. (<a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/693/58/2357549/">Minpeco v. Hunt</a>)</td>
</tr>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">“It was just a big bet on inflation.”</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">A 1988 jury found Bunker and Herbert Hunt liable for manipulating the silver market. (<a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/08/20/Hunts-guilty-in-silver-hoarding-case/2155588052800/">UPI</a>)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="divide-x divide-slate-200 even:bg-slate-50">
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">“Regulators were only protecting banks.”</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">The Fed did push to limit speculative loans, and banks later lent to the Hunts to stop the damage from spreading. (<a href="https://www.richmondfed.org/~/media/richmondfedorg/publications/research/economic_review/1990/pdf/er760603.pdf">Richmond Fed</a>; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia</a>)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="divide-x divide-slate-200 even:bg-slate-50">
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">“The Hunts owned most of the world’s silver.”</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">They held about 195 million ounces, about half in futures. That was a large share of private stocks, not most of the world’s silver. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia</a>)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Both things can be true. The exchanges changed the rules. And a jury later found that the Hunts had broken the law.</p>
<h2>Silver Thursday: March 27, 1980</h2>
<p>In late March, 1980, silver was in freefall. The Hunts’ brokers wanted more cash to continue their operation.</p>
<p>The biggest exposure sat with a brokerage firm called Bache. Bache had carried large Hunt positions and had made loans backed by silver. At March 27 prices, the unsecured balance owned in Hunt accounts at Bache was about $122 million.</p>
<p>The Hunts were no longer in a position to meet the margin calls. That Thursday, silver closed at $10.80.</p>
<p>The drop was precipitous. From March 10 to March 27, silver fell from $29.75 to $10.80. That decline marked a 64% fall in just over two weeks.</p>
<p>This failure and fear affected many more people than just the Hunt brothers. If they failed, their brokers and banks could fail too.</p>
<p>To prevent that result, thirteen banks arranged a $1.1 billion loan to Placid Oil. This was a Hunt family-owned company. The Hunts then settled a large debt to the refiner group Engelhard by handing over oil and gas assets.</p>
<h2>Was It Market Manipulation? What the Courts Decided</h2>
<p>A federal jury found that the Hunts had in fact engaged in market manipulation.</p>
<p>Minpeco, a mining company owned by the government of Peru, lost money on silver trades in 1979 and 1980. The company sued the Hunts in New York. On August 20, 1988, the jury ruled for Minpeco.</p>
<p>UPI records the jury findings as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li>Bunker and Herbert Hunt illegally manipulated the world silver market and broke racketeering laws.</li>
<li>All three brothers, including Lamar, broke fraud, commodities, and antitrust laws. Lamar was, however, cleared of the racketeering charge.</li>
<li>Mahmoud Fustouk, a Saudi businessman, and a Hunt-controlled company were also found liable.</li>
<li>Damages came to about $134 million after the law tripled them.</li>
</ul>
<p>However, please note that this was a case of civil law, not criminal. Nobody went to prison for these actions.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the fallout came quickly. By September 1988, Bunker and Herbert filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The lawsuits from their silver trading drove the filing.</p>
<p>In 1989, the brothers settled with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal futures regulator. They were fined and banned from trading commodities. Britannica reports the fine as $10 million each.</p>
<p>Some people familiar with this history remain sympathetic to the Hunt brothers and maintain that they were simply trying to hedge against disastrous inflation fears. That may well have been the motivation. Yet, upon examining the evidence, a jury found that the brothers had been attempting to corner the market. Following the verdict, regulators barred the brothers from the market.</p>
<h2>What Happened to the Hunt Brothers?</h2>
<p><strong>Are the Hunt brothers still alive?</strong> No. Nelson Bunker Hunt died on October 21, 2014, at age 88. (<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2014/10/22/famed-texas-oilman-nelson-bunker-hunt-dead-at-88.html">CNBC</a>) William Herbert Hunt died on April 9, 2024, at age 95. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herbert_Hunt">Wikipedia</a>) Lamar Hunt died in 2006. (<a href="https://www.chiefs.com/team/ownership/lamarhuntsr">Chiefs.com</a>)</p>
<p><strong>How much silver do the Hunt brothers own today?</strong> None that is on public record. Their position was sold off or pledged to lenders after 1980. The 1989 CFTC ban kept them out of commodity trading. (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Silver-Thursday">Britannica</a>)</p>
<p><strong>Is the Hunt family still wealthy?</strong> Yes, in different ways. Bunker lost most of his fortune. Herbert rebuilt his through oil. Forbes put his net worth at about $5.3 billion in 2024. (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herbert_Hunt">Wikipedia</a>) Lamar’s family still owns the Kansas City Chiefs. (<a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/sports/kansas-city-chiefs-hunt-family-silver-market">Fox Business</a>)</p>
<h2>The 2021 #SilverSqueeze</h2>
<p>In late January 2021, Reddit traders had just pushed up GameStop stock. Posts then called for a squeeze in silver.</p>
<p>Then, something interesting happened. On Sunday, January 31, silver futures jumped 8% when trading opened. The move was a major leap, one of the largest to occur since 2013. Twitter quickly saw the hashtag “#silversqueeze” trending.</p>
<p>On February 1, silver hit $30.03 in London. That marked its highest price since 2013.</p>
<p>Retail buyers followed suit by rushing to purchase coins and bars. Dealers struggled to keep up with the newfound demand. Premiums on highly traded products like the American Silver Eagle rose to accommodate the demand. Many dealers paused or delayed orders as available inventories dwindled.</p>
<p>The natural assumption at the time was that Reddit users had mobilized to make this squeeze occur. Interestingly, though, r/WallStreetBet users denied having caused the silver push. Some posts went so far as to say that hedge funds had co-opted what was meant to be their movement.</p>
<p>The squeeze came to an end when CME raised COMEX silver margins by 18%. That raised prices from $14,000 to $16,500 per contract, a change that went into effect on February 2, 2021. This move caused the rally to fade over the next few days.</p>
<p>While 2021 was certainly an eventful occurrence for silver, it did not really register as a silver squeeze. It was more of a retail buying wave that briefly drained retail supply.</p>
<h2>The 2025 London Silver Squeeze and the 2026 Record</h2>
<p>The 2025 squeeze was different. It started in the market where big banks trade silver bars: London.</p>
<p>In October 2025, the cost to borrow silver in London rose to over 100% a year. The London price rose $3 above New York futures. Money Metals noted that the last premium like it came during the Hunt squeeze.</p>
<p>Several forces met at once. Indian buyers bought heavily during festival season. The amount of “free float” silver in London fell from a high of 850 million ounces to about 200 million. Traders flew 15 million to 30 million ounces from New York to London to ease the shortage.</p>
<p>Silver set a then-all-time-high of $53.55 in London trading. That beat the January 1980 peak on the old Chicago Board of Trade contract.</p>
<p>The rally kept going. The U.S. government named silver a critical mineral in November 2025. By late December, silver was above $80. In early January 2026, COMEX traders began moving contracts to earlier months to get metal sooner. That is a sign of tight supply.</p>
<p>Silver reached a new record of about $121 on January 29, 2026. Then, much like it did in the past, CME raised silver margins. It did so on three occasions: January 30, February 2, and February 6. The last hike lifted margins from 15% to 18% of contract value. Prices fell hard in the days that followed.</p>
<p>For the full record, see our page on silver’s all-time high.</p>
<h2>1980 vs. 2021 vs. 2025: Three Silver Squeezes Compared</h2>
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<th class="p-3 text-left text-sm font-semibold">1980</th>
<th class="p-3 text-left text-sm font-semibold">2021</th>
<th class="p-3 text-left text-sm font-semibold">2025 to 2026</th>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><strong>Who drove it</strong></td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Hunt brothers and partners</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Retail buyers, sparked by Reddit posts</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Physical demand from India and investors; tight London supply</td>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><strong>How it worked</strong></td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Big futures positions plus taking delivery of metal</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Rush into coins, bars, and silver funds</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Borrowing costs spiked and London stocks ran low</td>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><strong>Peak</strong></td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">$49.45 (Jan. 17, 1980)</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">About $30 (Feb. 1, 2021)</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">About $121 (Jan. 29, 2026)</td>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><strong>How long</strong></td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">About 5 months up, 2 months down</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">A few days</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">About 4 months from October to the peak</td>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><strong>What ended it</strong></td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Position limits, margin hikes, liquidation-only rule, tighter bank credit</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">18% CME margin hike</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Three CME margin hikes in one week</td>
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<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700"><strong>Outcome</strong></td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Silver Thursday, jury verdict, bankruptcy, trading ban</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Prices faded; dealer premiums eased</td>
<td class="p-3 text-sm text-slate-700">Record high, then a sharp pullback</td>
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<p><em>Sources: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Silver-Thursday">Britannica</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday">Wikipedia</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/silver-stocks-surge-1.5895790">CBC News</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-01/cme-raises-comex-silver-futures-margins-by-18-effective-feb-2">Bloomberg</a>, <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/news/2025/10/13/squeeze-in-progress-as-silver-prices-scale-record-highs-004406">Money Metals</a>, <a href="https://www.roic.ai/news/silver-soars-to-record-121-per-ounce-extending-historic-rally-01-29-2026">Roic News</a>, <a href="https://www.kitco.com/news/off-the-wire/2026-02-06/cme-group-hikes-gold-silver-margins-again-volatility-grips-markets">Kitco</a>.</em></p>
<p>The pattern is hard to miss. In each case, demand did not simply run out. The rules of the futures market changed. Higher margins made large leveraged bets more expensive to hold. The traders who had borrowed the most had to sell first.</p>
<p>The causes were different, though. 1980 was one family and its partners. 2021 was a crowd of small buyers. 2025 was a real shortage of bars in London after years of supply deficits.</p>
<h2>What the Hunt Brothers Story Means for Silver Buyers Today</h2>
<p><strong>Leverage cuts both ways.</strong> The Hunts borrowed heavily and held futures. When margins rose and credit dried up, they were forced to sell. A buyer who owns fully paid physical silver never gets a margin call.</p>
<p><strong>Squeezes show up in premiums.</strong> In 2021 and 2025, retail buyers felt the squeeze as higher premiums, wider spreads, and slower shipping. The spot price was only part of the story.</p>
<p><strong>Paper and metal are not the same.</strong> Futures and many funds track the price of silver. They don’t put metal in your hands. Our guide on <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/investment/silver-etf-vs-physical-silver">silver ETFs vs. physical silver</a> explains the trade-offs.</p>
<p><strong>History doesn’t predict prices.</strong> No one can say when the next squeeze will come or how high prices will go. If you are new to the metal, start with our guide to <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/investment/investing-in-silver">investing in silver</a>. When you are ready, you can <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/buy/silver">compare silver coins, rounds, and bars</a>.</p>
<h3>Hunt Brothers Silver FAQ</h3>
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<p>Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt bought huge amounts of physical silver and silver futures in the 1970s. By January 1980, they and their partners controlled about 195 million ounces. The price rose to $49.45 and then collapsed on March 27, 1980, known as Silver Thursday.</p>
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<p>The SEC put the Hunt-related position at about 195 million ounces on January 1, 1980. About half of that was in futures contracts, not metal. Claims that they owned most of the world’s silver overstate it.</p>
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<p>Silver Thursday was March 27, 1980. The Hunts could not meet margin calls, and silver closed at $10.80 an ounce. Banks later arranged a $1.1 billion loan to a Hunt company to keep the losses from spreading.</p>
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<p>Silver peaked at $49.45 an ounce on January 17, 1980, according to Britannica. Some sources cite a figure above $50 from a Chicago Board of Trade contract that no longer exists.</p>
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<p>Not in a criminal court. In 1988, a federal civil jury found them liable for manipulating the silver market. Damages were about $134 million. In 1989, regulators fined them and banned them from trading commodities.</p>
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<p>No. Nelson Bunker Hunt died in 2014. William Herbert Hunt died in 2024. Their brother Lamar, who founded the Kansas City Chiefs, died in 2006.</p>
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<p>Partly. Silver jumped to about $30 and dealers ran short of coins and bars. But many Reddit users said they weren’t behind it, and the rally faded after CME raised margins. It was a buying wave, not a true squeeze.</p>
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<p>Silver saw a real squeeze in London in late 2025 and a record high in January 2026. For current conditions, see our <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/silver-price">live silver price</a> and our analysis of <a href="https://www.moneymetals.com/investment/is-there-a-silver-shortage">whether there is a silver shortage</a>.</p>
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