Gold/silver ratio today: 78.3
Ounces of silver that one ounce of gold costs, live
One ounce of gold costs as much as 78.3 ounces of silver right now. For comparison, the average since 1960 is 55.4 and the average of the last 10 years is 80.5. Live · updated 17:45 UTC
Gold/silver ratio calculator: convert gold ounces to silver ounces
The gold/silver ratio since 1960
The ratio has ranged from 16.4 to 111.5 in monthly averages. The average since 1960 is 55.4. Today it is 78.0.
| Measure | Ratio |
|---|---|
| Highest month | 111.5 |
| Lowest month | 16.4 |
| Average since 1960 | 55.4 |
| Average since 1971 | 60.9 |
| Average, last 10 years | 80.5 |
| Latest month in the data | 66.9 |
| Decade | Average | Low | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 28.2 | 16.4 | 38.9 |
| 1970s | 31.6 | 18.4 | 46.2 |
| 1980s | 52.7 | 17.4 | 75.7 |
| 1990s | 73.6 | 43.7 | 98.4 |
| 2000s | 61.5 | 47.4 | 79.2 |
| 2010s | 67.5 | 34.7 | 90.6 |
| 2020s | 81.0 | 51.6 | 111.5 |
A ratio above the long-run average means silver is cheap compared with gold, and below it means silver is expensive. It describes prices. It does not predict them and it is not advice to buy or sell.
When the ratio was highest and lowest
These are the highest and lowest monthly averages since 1960, one per period (months within 18 months of a listed one are skipped). Daily prices swing wider than monthly averages.
| Month | Ratio |
|---|---|
| Feb 1991 | 98.4 |
| Mar 1993 | 91.7 |
| Apr 2020 | 111.5 |
| Jul 2022 | 90.7 |
| May 2025 | 100.9 |
| Month | Ratio |
|---|---|
| Jun 1968 | 16.4 |
| Jan 1970 | 18.4 |
| Aug 1971 | 26.9 |
| Jul 1976 | 24.6 |
| Jan 1980 | 17.4 |
Of the 801 months in the data, 13% had a ratio of 80 or more and 32% were under 40. Since 1971 (after the US ended gold convertibility) the average is 60.9.
How to read the gold/silver ratio
The ratio is gold's price divided by silver's price, both per troy ounce. It is a way to compare the two metals without the dollar in the way. If both metals double in dollars, the ratio does not change. If gold rises and silver stays flat, the ratio goes up.
A high ratio
A ratio above the long-run average (around 55.4) means silver is cheap compared with gold. It tends to be high when investors are worried and buy gold first, and when demand for silver from industry is weak. The monthly high of 111.5 was in Apr 2020.
A low ratio
A ratio below the average means silver is dear compared with gold. It tends to be low when silver demand is strong or in a silver price spike. The monthly low of 16.4 was in Jun 1968.
What people use it for
Some investors use the ratio to decide between gold and silver, or to trade one for the other: they move into silver when the ratio is high and back into gold when it falls. This works only if the ratio comes back toward its average, and it does not have to. The ratio stayed in the 70s and 80s through much of the 1990s and has been at or above 80 on average in the 2020s so far.
The ratio also helps you check a quote. If you know the price of one metal, the ratio gives you a quick estimate of the other.
Before 1960
The ratio was set by law, not by the market, for most of US history. The Coinage Act of 1792 fixed it at 15 to 1, and by the 1834 coinage change it was 16 to 1. In the 1960s the US also held both prices in narrow bands, which is why the early part of the chart is flat. Both prices began to float freely in the early 1970s.
This page describes prices. It does not predict them and it is not advice to buy or sell.
Where the numbers come from
- Live ratio: gold and silver spot prices from the same feed as the rest of Lustre (gold-api.com), divided on the server and refreshed in the page. Reference prices are shown if the feed is down.
- History 1960 to 2026: World Bank Commodity Markets "Pink Sheet", monthly average gold and silver prices in US dollars per troy ounce, license CC BY 4.0. The ratio is the gold average divided by the silver average for each month. worldbank.org/en/research/commodity-markets
- 1792 and 1834 ratios: Coinage Act of 1792, section 11 (fifteen to one); described in the Wikipedia article on bimetallism.
Gold price history Silver price history Ratio calculator Silver price today
What the sources say
- definition Britannica Money defines the gold-silver ratio as how many ounces of silver equal one ounce of gold, calculated by dividing the price of gold by the price of silver.
- History The Coinage Act of 1792 provided that every fifteen pounds weight of pure silver be of equal value in all payments with one pound weight of pure gold.
- History Britannica Money says the ratio reached roughly 98:1 in 1939, 100:1 in 1991 and 125:1 in 2020.
- History The Library of Congress says the 1834 Coinage Act reduced the price of gold by adjusting the ratio to 16-to-1.
- Market Britannica Money says some traders view modern ratio levels between 40 and 60 as historically typical, and above 70-80 as silver being cheap relative to gold.
Sources for these notes
Britannica Money: “The gold-silver ratio measures how many ounces of silver equal one ounce of gold. It’s calculated by dividing the price of gold by the price of silver.”
U.S. Mint (statute text): “every fifteen pounds weight of pure silver shall be of equal value in all payments, with one pound weight of pure gold”
Britannica Money: “peaks climbed much higher—reaching roughly 98:1 in 1939, 100:1 in 1991, and 125:1 in 2020.”
Library of Congress: “This changed in 1834 with the introduction of the Coinage Act, which reduced the price of gold by adjusting the ratio to 16-to-1.”
Britannica Money: “Some traders view levels between 40 and 60 as historically typical in modern markets. Above 70–80, silver is considered cheap relative to gold.”
Gold/silver ratio questions
What is the gold to silver ratio?
It is the price of one troy ounce of gold divided by the price of one troy ounce of silver. A ratio of 80 means one ounce of gold costs as much as 80 ounces of silver.
How do you calculate the gold silver ratio?
Divide the gold price per ounce by the silver price per ounce. With gold at $4,128.90 and silver at $52.93, the ratio is 78.0.
What is the highest the gold silver ratio has been?
In the World Bank monthly averages since 1960 the highest month is Apr 2020 at 111.5. Daily prices in March 2020 went higher than any monthly average; reports put the daily peak above 120.
What is a good gold silver ratio?
There is no right number. The average since 1960 is 55.4 and the average of the last 10 years is 80.5. A higher ratio means silver is cheap compared with gold, a lower one means silver is dear. It describes prices and does not predict them.
What does a high gold silver ratio mean?
It means gold is expensive compared with silver, or silver is cheap compared with gold. Some people swap gold for silver when the ratio is high, and the other way round when it is low. There is no guarantee the ratio will move back.