Which 1980 crash followed the Hunt brothers’ attempt to corner the global silver market?

The 1980 crash that followed the Hunt brothers’ attempt to corner the global silver market was Silver Thursday.

Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt accumulated enormous silver positions, helped by borrowing and expectations of further price increases. Silver prices reached a peak of $49.45 per troy ounce on 17 January 1980. After exchange rules changed and lenders demanded more collateral, the market reversed sharply.

On 27 March 1980, known as Silver Thursday, the Hunts faced difficulty meeting margin calls. Financial institutions helped arrange credit to prevent broader disruption, and the brothers later filed for bankruptcy protection. The episode is primarily a commodities-market crash rather than a broad stock-market collapse, but it became a notable financial-market crash because the leverage and forced selling threatened banks and brokers.