Micro Gold Futures vs GLD: Size, Tax, Cost

Micro gold futures (MGC) and GLD hold the same asset in two different wrappers: a COMEX contract on ten troy ounces of gold, or a share of a trust that keeps bullion in a vault. On price exposure the two are close substitutes at retail size. They part company on tax and on what it takes to keep the position alive.

What is a micro gold futures contract?

MGC is the 10 troy ounce gold future listed on COMEX, one tenth the size of the 100 ounce GC contract. It is quoted in US dollars per troy ounce. The minimum price fluctuation is 0.10 per ounce, worth $1.00 per contract, the smallest gain or loss a one tick move can produce (CME contract specs). Contracts are listed for February, April, June, August, October and December inside a 24 month window, and trading in each one terminates on the third last business day of its delivery month. Settlement is physical: the deliverable is an Accumulated Certificate of Exchange rather than a 10 ounce bar, and holders who do not want metal close or roll before termination.

Two mechanics carry over from the index market: the tick arithmetic in futures tick size and tick value, and the sizing logic in micro versus full size contracts.

SELECT
    concat('$', substring(toString(price_per_oz), 1, 1), ',', substring(toString(price_per_oz), 2, 3)) AS gold_price_per_oz,
    price_per_oz * 10                                              AS mgc_notional_usd,
    price_per_oz * 100                                             AS gc_notional_usd,
    concat('$', toString(intDiv(price_per_oz * 10, 1000)), ',000') AS mgc_notional_label,
    concat('$', toString(intDiv(price_per_oz, 10)))                AS one_pct_move_label,
    concat(toString(toUInt16(round(10 / 0.0918))), ' GLD shares')  AS gld_share_equivalent
FROM
(
    SELECT 3200 + (400 * arrayJoin(range(7))) AS price_per_oz
)
ORDER BY price_per_oz

Notional scales with the metal. At $4,000 an ounce, one MGC stands behind $40,000 of gold, and the 100 ounce contract ten times that. A 1% move in the metal is $400 on the micro. The last column is the one that does not move with price: 109 GLD shares hold the same ten ounces at any level, since both wrappers are claims on ounces rather than on dollars.

How many GLD shares equal one micro gold futures contract?

Each GLD share began life in November 2004 as a claim on a tenth of an ounce. The sponsor fee is paid out of the metal itself, and the ounces behind a share have drifted down every year since. The trust's report for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 lists 32,314,228 ounces against 352,000,000 shares outstanding, about 0.0918 ounces per share (Form 10-Q). Ten ounces divided by that ratio is where the 109 GLD shares figure comes from, and the panels here use the same ratio to read a gold price out of GLD's quote.

SELECT
    month,
    calendar_label,
    round(month_end_close, 2) AS gld_month_end_close,
    round(month_high, 2)      AS gld_month_high,
    round(month_low, 2)       AS gld_month_low,
    concat('$', substring(gold_digits, 1, 1), ',', substring(gold_digits, 2, 3)) AS implied_gold_label,
    concat('$', substring(mgc_digits, 1, 2), ',', substring(mgc_digits, 3, 3))   AS mgc_notional_label
FROM
(
    WITH 0.0918 AS ounces_per_gld_share
    SELECT
        toString(toStartOfMonth(date))     AS month,
        formatDateTime(min(date), '%b %Y') AS calendar_label,
        toFloat64(argMax(close, date))     AS month_end_close,
        toFloat64(max(high))               AS month_high,
        toFloat64(min(low))                AS month_low,
        toString(toUInt32(round(month_end_close / ounces_per_gld_share)))      AS gold_digits,
        toString(toUInt32(round(month_end_close * 10 / ounces_per_gld_share))) AS mgc_digits
    FROM global_markets.stocks_daily_aggs
    WHERE ticker = 'GLD'
      AND date >= addMonths(toStartOfMonth(today()), -12)
    GROUP BY month
)
ORDER BY month

GLD closed Oct 2026 at $380.14. Through the trust's ounces per share, that puts one ounce near $4,141 and the ten ounces inside a single MGC at $41,410. A year earlier, in Oct 2025, the same contract carried $40,100. Both wrappers rode that move identically. What differs is the structure around the ounces.

Micro gold futures vs GLD: how the tax treatment differs

Gold futures on a US exchange are section 1256 contracts, which brings two rules. Every contract still open on the last business day of the tax year is treated as sold at fair market value on that day, with the gain or loss reported on Form 6781. The gain is then split 60% long term and 40% short term, no matter how long the position was held.

GLD sits elsewhere in the code. The trust is a grantor trust, so a shareholder is treated as owning a pro rata slice of the bullion and as paying a pro rata slice of the expenses. Bullion is a collectible. Gains on shares held more than a year are taxed at a federal maximum of 28%, above the 20% ceiling that applies to most long term capital gains, and shares held a year or less are ordinary income. The trust restates this every year in its tax information. Metal the trustee sells to cover the fee also passes through to holders as small annual proceeds entries.

Put the top statutory rates side by side. A 60/40 contract blends 60% at the 20% long term rate with 40% at the 37% ordinary rate, about 26.8%. GLD held long term tops out at 28%. The gap widens at short holding periods: a futures gain banked in three weeks still gets the 60/40 blend, while GLD sold inside a year is taxed as ordinary income. Timing runs the other way. GLD defers the bill until the sale, and mark to market taxes an open futures position every December. The same 60/40 arithmetic appears in why index options are taxed 60/40. These are federal rates as of October 2026, with the 3.8% net investment income tax and any state tax sitting on top of both wrappers.

What does each wrapper cost to hold?

GLD charges a gross expense ratio of 0.40% a year, taken out of the metal. No roll and no expiry.

WITH
    0.0918 AS ounces_per_gld_share,
    0.0040 AS sponsor_fee_rate,
    (
        SELECT toFloat64(argMax(close, date))
        FROM global_markets.stocks_daily_aggs
        WHERE ticker = 'GLD'
          AND date >= today() - 45
    ) AS gld_latest_close
SELECT
    y                                                  AS years_held,
    round((1 - pow(1 - sponsor_fee_rate, y)) * 100, 2) AS cumulative_fee_pct,
    round(gld_latest_close / ounces_per_gld_share * 10 * (1 - pow(1 - sponsor_fee_rate, y)), 0) AS fee_usd_per_mgc_notional
FROM
(
    SELECT arrayJoin(range(1, 11)) AS y
)
ORDER BY y

On a stake matching one MGC, the fee runs about $166 in year one and near $1627 across ten years, 3.93% of the position. The grid compounds the published rate annually and leaves out commissions and spread.

MGC's costs arrive in a different shape. There is no expense ratio. You post initial margin to open the contract and keep account equity above the maintenance level, both set per contract by the exchange and revised as volatility moves. The micro requirement is one tenth of the 100 ounce contract's, and a broker can demand more than the exchange does. Margin is a performance bond rather than a loan, the distinction drawn in how futures margin works. The recurring cost is the roll. With six listed months a year, a continuous long position exits an expiring contract and enters a later one several times a year, paying spread and commissions each time. A gold future also carries the financing and storage of holding metal to delivery, and the later contract commonly sits above the nearer one by that amount, the mechanism in contango and roll yield.

Which one is open when gold moves?

Gold trades through the London and Asian hours. GLD trades the US equity session, so the overnight move reaches a shareholder as an opening gap, while a futures position stays live through it.

WITH gld AS
(
    SELECT
        date,
        toFloat64(open)  AS o,
        toFloat64(close) AS c,
        lagInFrame(toFloat64(close)) OVER (ORDER BY date ROWS BETWEEN 1 PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW) AS prev_c
    FROM global_markets.stocks_daily_aggs
    WHERE ticker = 'GLD'
      AND date >= '2017-01-01'
)
SELECT
    toYear(date)                                                                   AS year,
    round(quantileDeterministic(0.5)(abs(o / prev_c - 1) * 100, toUInt32(date)), 2) AS median_overnight_gap_pct,
    round(quantileDeterministic(0.5)(abs(c / o - 1) * 100, toUInt32(date)), 2)      AS median_intraday_move_pct,
    round(max(abs(o / prev_c - 1) * 100), 2)                                        AS largest_overnight_gap_pct
FROM gld
WHERE prev_c > 0
  AND o > 0
GROUP BY year
ORDER BY year

In 2026, GLD's median overnight gap measured 0.84% against a median intraday move of 0.52%, and the widest single gap of the year came to 5.98%. The series runs back to 2017. An MGC position sits in the market through that window and can be exited inside it. A GLD position meets the overnight news at the opening bell. Listed options on the ETF price that same two part day, which is what GLD implied volatility tracks.

Which fits which holding period and account?

The mechanics sort into four cases.

• Short holding periods in a taxable account: 60/40 applies to futures whatever the holding period, and there is no expense ratio. Margin maintenance and the roll calendar are the work taken on.
• Multi year holds in a taxable account: the GLD fee compounds as the panel above shows, the 28% collectibles ceiling applies after a year, and the bill waits for the sale. Futures skip the fee and tax paper gains each December.
• IRAs and workplace plans: most mainstream retail custodians do not clear futures, which often leaves GLD as the only one of the two on the platform. Inside a retirement account the collectibles question falls away, since distributions come out as ordinary income.
• Stakes smaller than ten ounces: MGC's minimum is ten ounces, $41,410 at this month's level. GLD scales one share at a time, and 109 GLD shares make up the same ten ounces.

FAQ

Is GLD taxed as a collectible?

For the long term rate, yes. GLD is a grantor trust holding bullion, and a gain on shares held more than a year is taxed at the 28% collectibles maximum rather than the 20% ceiling for most long term gains. Shares held a year or less are ordinary income.

Are gold futures section 1256 contracts?

Gold futures on a US exchange, MGC included, are regulated futures contracts under section 1256. Open positions are marked to market at year end, and the gain or loss is split 60% long term and 40% short term regardless of holding period, reported on Form 6781.

How many GLD shares equal one micro gold futures contract?

About 109 GLD shares. One MGC covers ten troy ounces, and each GLD share stood for roughly 0.0918 ounces as of the trust's June 30, 2026 report. The share count creeps up over the years as the sponsor fee is paid out of the metal.

Can you trade micro gold futures in an IRA?

Some self directed custodians and futures brokers support futures inside an IRA, while most mainstream retail IRA platforms do not offer them at all. GLD trades in any brokerage IRA like an ordinary share.

Does GLD track spot gold or gold futures?

GLD's net asset value follows the LBMA Gold Price PM, a physical benchmark, net of accrued expenses. A futures price includes financing and storage to the delivery date, and the two quotes differ by that carry rather than by the metal.

Every panel above ships with the SQL that produced it. To re-run the share equivalence at the current quote, ask it in plain English on the Strasmore terminal.