The gold-to-silver ratio: what it is and how investors use it

At a glance

What it measures	How many ounces of silver one ounce of gold buys
How to work it out	Gold price divided by silver price
September 25, 2026	About 66
Average since 1972	About 65
Low since 1972	16, in January 1980
High since 1972	126, in March 2020

How the ratio works

Take the spot prices on September 25, 2026: gold at $4,304.83 an ounce and silver at $64.77. Divide one by the other and you get 66.5, so an ounce of gold bought about 66 ounces of silver that day.

When the ratio rises, silver is doing worse than gold, either rising more slowly or falling faster. When it falls, silver is doing better. The ratio says nothing about whether either metal is cheap or expensive in dollars. Both can fall while the ratio stays flat.

How far it has moved

Period	What happened	Ratio
1792	The first U.S. coinage law fixed the ratio for coins	15
1834	A new coinage law changed it	16
January 1980	Silver peaked at $49.45 an ounce on January 17	16
March 2020	Silver sold off in the early weeks of the pandemic	126
January 2026	Gold neared $5,600 and silver passed $120, both records	About 46
September 25, 2026	Gold at $4,304.83, silver at $64.77	About 66

The research firm CPM Group puts the average since 1972 at about 65. It also points out that the ratio has sat at that average only very briefly, around seven times, in all those years. Long spells far above or below the average are normal.

Why the ratio moves

The two metals are used differently. Much more of silver’s demand comes from industry, so its price tends to react more to the economy, falling harder in downturns and rising faster in booms. Silver’s market is also much smaller, which makes its price swing more. Our guide to silver bars and coins explains why silver is more volatile.

That’s why the ratio jumped in March 2020, when investors sold almost everything in the first weeks of the pandemic, and why it fell sharply during the price spikes of 1980 and early 2026, when silver rose much faster than gold.

How some investors use it

Some investors treat a high ratio as a sign that silver is cheap compared with gold, and a low ratio as a sign that gold is. They use it in two ways:

• When adding to their holdings, they buy whichever metal the ratio suggests is cheaper.
• When switching, they trade gold for silver when the ratio is high and back again when it’s low, aiming to end up with more ounces of gold than they started with.

Switching is harder than it sounds. Each swap is a sale for tax purposes, so any gain on the metal you give up is taxable. Our guide to how gold and silver are taxed covers why. You also pay the dealer’s premium and spread every time, and those are larger for silver. And nothing guarantees the ratio will come back.

What the ratio can’t tell you

CPM Group puts it plainly: “there is no magical number at which this ratio should stand.” Gold and silver aren’t tied to each other by any physical or chemical rule, so the ratio can stay high or low for years. It’s a useful way to see how the two metals have moved relative to each other, and a poor tool for timing a trade on its own.

If you’re deciding between the two metals, cost, storage and what you want the metal to do for you usually matter more. Our guides to gold coins and silver bars and coins compare the practical side, and what moves gold prices covers the forces behind gold.

Frequently asked questions