COMEX
Gold (GC) Tick Value & Contract Specs
Tick value $10.00 per tick — 100 troy ounces of gold.
COMEX Gold (GC) is the world's most liquid gold futures contract: 100 troy ounces per contract, priced in dollars per ounce. The tick is $0.10 per ounce, worth $10 per contract, and every one-dollar move in the gold price is $100 per contract. At $2,400 gold, that makes one GC contract worth $240,000 of notional metal — leverage that deserves respect on both sides of a trade.
Gold trades nearly around the clock and responds to a distinct set of drivers: real interest rates, the dollar index, central-bank buying and safe-haven flows. Sessions where gold moves $30–$50 are not rare, and at $100 per dollar that is $3,000–$5,000 per contract. Traders who want gold exposure with a smaller unit use Micro Gold (MGC) at exactly one-tenth the size. Whatever the size, run entry, stop and contract count through the pre-filled calculator below so the dollar risk is known before the position exists.
- Exchange
- COMEX
- Contract size
- 100 troy ounces of gold
- Tick size
- 0.1
- Tick value
- $10.00
- Point value (multiplier)
- $100
- Trading hours
- Sun–Fri 6:00pm–5:00pm ET, with a daily trading halt 5:00pm–6:00pm ET
- Margin
- Margin varies by broker and typically moves with gold price volatility.
How GC tick value works
Tick value is the dollar amount one futures contract gains or loses when the price moves one minimum increment (one tick).
tick value = tick size × multiplier. For GC, that is 0.1 × $100 = $10.00 per tick, per contract.
One contract represents 100 troy ounces of gold. P&L for a move from entry to exit is (exit − entry) ÷ tick size × tick value × contracts.
GC contract months and ticker symbols
A futures ticker is three parts: the root, a one-letter delivery month, and the year. GCZ2026 is the December 2026 GC contract. The month letters skip I and L, which would read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
| Code | Month | Listed for GC? |
|---|---|---|
| F | January | Yes — GCF |
| G | February | Yes — GCG |
| H | March | Yes — GCH |
| J | April | Yes — GCJ |
| K | May | Yes — GCK |
| M | June | Yes — GCM |
| N | July | Yes — GCN |
| Q | August | Yes — GCQ |
| U | September | Yes — GCU |
| V | October | Yes — GCV |
| X | November | Yes — GCX |
| Z | December | Yes — GCZ |
All twelve months are listed, but the liquid contracts are February, April, June, August, October and December — which is why the front month can skip two calendar months at a time.
Which GC contract am I looking at?
Most charts default to the continuous front-month series rather than a dated contract — one stitched-together chart that rolls to the next month as the current one nears expiry. Every platform spells it differently, which is why the same contract appears under so many names.
| Written as | Platform | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| GC1! | TradingView | Continuous front-month contract. "2!" is the next one out, and a dated contract is written in full, e.g. GCZ2026. |
| GC00 | Barchart | Continuous front-month series. "GCZ26" style codes name a specific month and year instead. |
| GCc1 | Refinitiv / Reuters | Continuous front month; c2 is the second month out. |
| /GC | thinkorswim, tastytrade | The leading slash marks it as a future rather than a stock. A specific month is /GCZ26. |
| GC=F | Yahoo Finance | The "=F" suffix denotes the front-month futures series. |
| $GC | StockTwits, social | A cashtag, not an exchange symbol. It usually means the front month, but it is informal and ambiguous. |
A dated code such as GCZ26 always means one specific contract; the continuous forms never do. Check which you are quoting before comparing a price to someone else’s — around a roll they differ.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the tick value for GC?
- $10.00 per tick — a 0.1 tick size × a $100 multiplier (point value).
- What is one GC contract worth?
- One contract represents 100 troy ounces of gold. Notional value = price × $100; use the tick value calculator with the current price for an exact figure.
- Which exchange lists GC?
- Gold (GC) trades on the COMEX.
- What are the trading hours for GC?
- Sun–Fri 6:00pm–5:00pm ET, with a daily trading halt 5:00pm–6:00pm ET.
- How much margin do I need to trade GC?
- Margin varies by broker and typically moves with gold price volatility.
- What are the GC contract months?
- GC lists January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. All twelve months are listed, but the liquid contracts are February, April, June, August, October and December — which is why the front month can skip two calendar months at a time.
- What does GCZ2026 mean?
- It is one specific GC contract: the root GC, the delivery-month code Z, and the year. Z is December, so GCZ2026 is the December 2026 contract. The codes run F G H J K M N Q U V X Z for January through December — I and L are skipped because they read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
- What is GC00, GC1! or /GC?
- All three name the same thing: the continuous front-month GC contract, written differently by different platforms. Barchart uses GC00, TradingView GC1!, thinkorswim and tastytrade /GC, Yahoo Finance GC=F, and GC on social media is usually written $GC. None of them is a separate instrument — each stitches together whichever dated contract is currently the front month.
- How is P&L calculated for GC?
- P&L = (exit price − entry price) ÷ 0.1 tick size × $10.00 tick value × number of contracts. Use the tick value calculator to compute this directly.
More futures contract specs
- MGC — Micro GoldTick value $1.00 · COMEX
- SI — SilverTick value $25.00 · COMEX
- HG — CopperTick value $12.50 · COMEX
- PL — PlatinumTick value $5.00 · NYMEX
See all futures contract specs or use the futures contract & tick value calculator with any symbol or custom specs.
Specs last reviewed 2026-09-06. Exchanges can amend contract specs — always confirm against the exchange or your broker before trading.