What if I had invested? Past returns calculator
See what an amount put into gold, oil, silver or a currency on a past date would be worth today, with yearly return and the largest fall along the way.
How it works
Pick what you would have bought, the date and the amount. The calculator buys at the price of that date, holds the position and values it at the latest price — or on the sell date you choose. It shows the profit or loss, the average yearly return for periods of a year or more, and the largest drawdown: how far the position fell from its previous high along the way.
If the amount is in another currency than the price, it is converted at the European Central Bank reference rate of the investment date, and back at the rate of the valuation date. Currency moves can add to the result or eat into it.
Where the prices come from
- Currencies: the ECB euro reference rates, published every working day since 4 January 1999. Pairs without the euro, such as USD/JPY, are calculated from two euro rates.
- Commodities: the World Bank’s monthly average prices in US dollars (the “Pink Sheet”), going back to 1960. A monthly average is not the price of a single day: the calculator uses the average of the month you pick.
What it leaves out
Real investing costs money: spreads, commissions, storage and insurance for metals, the roll of futures contracts, taxes. Inflation also reduces what the final amount can buy. None of that is included, so a real result would have been lower. Past returns say nothing about future ones.
Updated October 13, 2026