Gold Futures Expiration and Delivery Explained
Learn standard COMEX Gold futures expiration and delivery: GC trading cutoff, first and last notice days, delivery window, and electronic warrant process.
Direct answer
Standard COMEX Gold futures, GC, are physically delivered contracts with a delivery-month calendar and a warrant-based clearing process. Under the current GC rule, trading in the expiring month ends on the third-last business day of that delivery month. Delivery may occur on business days from the first through the final business day. First Notice Day, Last Notice Day, and the trading cutoff are distinct calendar entries that must remain attached to the exact GC delivery month.
GC uses separate first-notice, last-trading, and last-notice calendar dates
For standard GC, First Notice Day is the final business day before the delivery month. Trading in the current delivery month ends on the third-last business day of that delivery month. Last Notice Day is the second-last business day of the delivery month. Delivery may occur on any business day from the first through the final business day of that month.
These entries identify different parts of one process. What Gold futures are establishes that GC is a named-month, physically delivered contract. First notice day and last trading day gives the broader distinction between a notice date and the end of exchange trading.
GC delivery uses an electronic COMEX warrant and clearing assignment
The GC delivery procedure is based on an electronic COMEX warrant, a document of title for qualified stored metal. A short clearing member submits a delivery notice, and the Clearing House assigns that notice to an eligible long. The procedure describes a clearing process and a warrant, rather than a general claim that a bar moves with every futures position.
Physical delivery is one contract-defined final process; other futures can use cash settlement. Cash-settled versus physically delivered futures separates the two designs without treating a commodity label as a delivery instruction.
Expiration is not one event and a new contract month is not an extension
An expiring GC month can move through notice, trading, and delivery entries on its own calendar. A later-dated GC contract is a separately named agreement with its own month and delivery process. Moving from one month to another is a change between contracts, not an automatic extension of the expiring contract.
Futures contract roll mechanics explains the relationship between an expiring contract and a deferred one while keeping the two months distinct.
The current rulebook and delivery procedure define the exact GC month
The standard GC rulebook defines the contract's trading and delivery calendar, while CME's metal-delivery procedure sets out the warrant and clearing process. Read both with the exact delivery month rather than moving a date or process from another gold product into GC.
How to read futures contract specifications provides a checklist for the product, month, delivery terms, unit, and final process that belong in a contract record.
Keep standard GC separate from other Gold contracts and month labels
Contract units and delivery mechanics are product-specific. Micro Gold futures versus Gold futures compares the MGC and GC records without treating a smaller contract as the same delivery path. Futures contract month codes then explains why the named month and year must remain with every GC calendar entry.
This guide describes standard COMEX Gold futures contract mechanics. It does not state a current calendar date for a different month, direct a delivery action, recommend a position, or determine any party's handling of a contract. The current CME rulebook and delivery procedure govern the exact GC month.
Common questions
When does trading end for an expiring standard GC contract?
Under the current GC rule, trading in the expiring month ends on the third-last business day of the delivery month.
What is First Notice Day for standard GC?
For standard GC, First Notice Day is the final business day before the delivery month.
When can delivery occur during a GC delivery month?
Delivery may occur on business days from the first through the final business day of the delivery month.
Does physical delivery mean every GC futures position transfers a gold bar?
No. CME's procedure uses an electronic COMEX warrant as the document of title for qualified stored metal and a clearing assignment process. It is not a generic statement that a bar transfers with every futures position.
Who assigns a standard GC delivery notice?
A short clearing member submits the notice, and the Clearing House assigns it to an eligible long under the CME delivery procedure. The short does not choose which long receives the notice.