Tools
Gold-Silver Ratio
How many ounces of silver one ounce of gold buys, charted daily from LBMA fixes since 1968, with the ratio by decade, what high and low readings have meant, and how the mean-reversion trade works.
Figures below are computed from the committed LBMA fix series and were last refreshed on 28 September 2026. Long-run statistics (pre-2015) were computed on 6 September 2026 from the full LBMA record.
Where the Ratio Stands Now
At the 28 September 2026 London fixes, gold was $4,145 and silver $61.33, so one ounce of gold buys 67.6 ounces of silver. That is inside the 50 to 80 band where the ratio has spent 56 percent of trading days since 1971. A year ago the ratio was 81.5; it has fallen 13.9 points since.
| Window | Average | High | Low |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 to date | 62.8 | ||
| Last 12 months | 66.5 | 85.5 (24 October 2025) | 45.4 (27 January 2026) |
| Last 5 years | 81.2 | 105.3 (22 April 2025) | 45.4 (27 January 2026) |
| Last 10 years | 80.6 | 123.5 (17 March 2020) | 45.4 (27 January 2026) |
| Since August 1971 | 61.4 (median 63.5) | 123.5 (17 March 2020) | 14.0 (2 January 1980) |
The 2025 to 2026 move was one of the largest in the record. The ratio peaked at 105.3 on 22 April 2025 with gold near $3,300 and silver near $32, fell through 80 on 10 October 2025 and through 60 on 29 December, and bottomed at 45.4 on 27 January 2026, two days before silver's London record of $118.45 and gold's of $5,405. It then rebounded into the 60s as silver corrected harder than gold. For what is driving the current leg see why silver is dropping and why gold is falling.
What the Gold-Silver Ratio Is
Divide the gold price by the silver price. The result is the number of ounces of silver that one ounce of gold will buy. It is the oldest relative-value measure in finance: governments fixed it by law for most of recorded history (the U.S. Coinage Act of 1792 set 15:1, revised to about 16:1 in 1834, and France's bimetallic standard used 15.5:1), and it floated only after silver was demonetised in the late nineteenth century.
The ratio compresses a lot of information. Silver is a hybrid of monetary metal and industrial commodity, with about 60 percent of demand coming from industrial uses, while gold is almost entirely monetary and investment demand, underpinned since 2022 by record central bank buying. A rising ratio usually means fear (gold outperforming as a safe haven) or a weak industrial economy; a falling ratio usually means a precious metals bull market in which silver, the smaller and more volatile market, is outrunning gold.
The Ratio by Decade
Daily LBMA gold PM and silver fixes, 1 April 1968 to 4 September 2026.
| Decade | Average | High | Low | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 31.7 | 47.6 (June 1973) | 18.1 (March 1970) | Gold freed from $35; silver rallied harder as inflation and the Hunt brothers' accumulation built |
| 1980s | 52.7 | 77.6 (October 1986) | 14.0 (January 1980) | Silver collapsed from $50 after the Hunt squeeze; gold fell more slowly |
| 1990s | 73.7 | 100.8 (February 1991) | 38.3 (February 1998) | Disinflation, strong equities, central bank gold sales; the 1998 low came with Berkshire Hathaway's silver purchase |
| 2000s | 61.6 | 84.5 (November 2008) | 43.7 (April 2006) | Commodity supercycle compressed the ratio; the 2008 crisis blew it back out |
| 2010s | 67.6 | 93.3 (July 2019) | 31.5 (28 April 2011) | Silver's $49 peak, then a seven-year bear market that took the ratio back above 90 |
| 2020s (to date) | 81.3 | 123.5 (17 March 2020) | 45.4 (27 January 2026) | COVID spike to the all-time high, five years above 80, then the 2025 to 2026 silver run |
Two things stand out. The centre of gravity has drifted upward: the 1970s and 1980s averages are below 55, every decade since is above 60, and the 2020s average is above 80. And the extremes cluster in crises. The three highest readings in the record (1991, 2019 to 2020, and April 2025) all came when silver's industrial demand looked weakest relative to gold's monetary bid, and all three were followed within two years by a large silver outperformance.
How to Read a High or Low Ratio
Since August 1971 the daily ratio has been between 50 and 80 on 56 percent of trading days, above 80 on 16 percent, above 90 on under 4 percent, and below 40 on 17.5 percent (almost all of it in the 1970s and early 1980s; since 1990 the ratio has closed below 40 only around the 2011 peak).
Above 80: silver is relatively cheap
Silver has underperformed gold, usually because industrial demand is weak, investors are in risk-off mode, or silver has simply been ignored. Readings above 80 have preceded periods of silver outperformance over one to three years more often than not. The 2020 reading of 123 was followed by silver roughly doubling while gold gained about 30 percent; the April 2025 reading of 105 was followed by silver more than tripling to its January 2026 record while gold gained about 60 percent.
Below 50: gold is relatively cheap
Silver has been outrunning gold, typically late in a precious metals bull market when speculative money piles into the smaller market. The 1980 low of 14 was followed by a decade in which the ratio rose to 100; the 2011 low of 31.5 by seven years of silver underperformance. The January 2026 low of 45 was followed within months by a rebound into the 60s.
50 to 80: not much signal
The ratio can sit in this band for years without saying anything actionable. Treat it as a neutral zone and let fundamentals decide the split.
The Mean-Reversion Trade
The ratio trade is the most established strategy that uses this number. When the ratio is high, swap gold for silver; when it is low, swap back. Every completed round trip increases the number of ounces you hold without adding capital.
Worked example. Start with 10 oz of gold with the ratio at 90. Swap it for 900 oz of silver. The ratio compresses to 50 over the following years. Swap the 900 oz of silver back into gold and receive 18 oz. You have gone from 10 oz to 18 oz of gold with no new money. The dollar value of the holding depends on where prices went in the meantime; the ounce count does not.
The trade captured the 1980 compression (100 to 14 in the other direction, for anyone who swapped silver into gold at the top), the 2003 to 2011 compression from 80 to 31, the 2020 to 2021 compression from 123 to 65, and most recently the 2025 to 2026 compression from 105 to 45. It did nothing useful for anyone who swapped gold into silver at 80 in 2018 and then watched the ratio rise for two more years before it turned.
Thresholds
The common framework is 80 and 60: favour silver for new purchases and consider swapping gold into silver above 80; favour gold and consider swapping silver into gold below 60; do nothing in between. The thresholds come from the post-1971 distribution, where 80 marks roughly the top sixth of readings and 60 the lower third. Wider bands (90 and 50) produce fewer trades with more edge each; tighter bands (75 and 60) produce more signals with less edge. Using the long-run median of 63.5 as the reversion target is a reasonable default.
Three ways to execute
- Direct dealer swap. Some dealers accept one metal as trade-in against the other, which saves one settlement cycle. Expect to lose 3 to 6 percent across the two spreads.
- Sell and buy separately. Sell to the dealer with the best buy-back price, buy from the dealer with the lowest premium. Adds a step, often saves 1 to 2 percent. The premium tracker shows current buy premiums across dealers.
- Redirect new purchases. Instead of selling anything, send all new money to the favoured metal until the ratio crosses back. No transaction costs, no tax event, and it fits naturally with dollar cost averaging. This is the approach most suited to physical holders.
For paper execution, a sell order on a gold ETF and a buy order on a silver ETF costs well under 1 percent round trip, which is why the strategy is far more practical in a brokerage account than in a vault.
Costs, Taxes and Risks
Transaction costs. A physical round trip costs 5 to 10 percent in spreads, shipping and insurance. A move from 90 to 70 is about 22 percent of silver outperformance, so a physical swap needs a large move to be worth making; ETF costs of under 1 percent make far smaller moves actionable.
Taxes. Every swap is a sale. In the U.S., physical precious metals are taxed as collectibles at up to 28 percent on long-term gains and as ordinary income (up to 37 percent) if held under a year. Selling 10 oz of gold bought at $1,800 and sold at $4,400 realises $26,000 of gain and roughly $7,300 of federal tax at the collectibles rate, which is metal you cannot swap into silver. Swaps inside a self-directed IRA incur no current tax; specific-lot identification and waiting for long-term treatment reduce it; redirecting new purchases avoids it entirely. See capital gains tax on gold.
It is not a timing tool. The ratio stayed above 75 from 2019 to late 2025, with a spike to 123 in between. Mean reversion is a tendency, not a schedule.
It ignores direction. A falling ratio does not mean either metal is rising. From 2011 to 2015 gold lost about 45 percent and silver about 72 percent; the ratio correctly said silver was underperforming, and both positions lost money.
Silver is roughly twice as volatile. Swapping gold into silver doubles the drawdowns you have to sit through. Silver fell by more than half from its January 2026 record within six months while gold fell about a quarter; a holder who swapped at the ratio low would have been right on the ratio and still have had a rough year.
The equilibrium may have shifted. Central banks hold gold and not silver, mine output runs about 7 ounces of silver per ounce of gold (against the 15:1 mint ratio of the 1800s), and silver's industrial demand is now falling as solar cells are thrifted. Each of these argues for a higher "normal" ratio than the twentieth-century average. Against that, silver's monetary demand has clearly returned: the ratio fell below 50 in 2026 for the first time since 2012.
How to Use This Chart
Select a timeframe to see the ratio over one month to the full record since 1968. The panel under the chart shows the period high, low and average against the current reading. Hover or tap a point for the exact date and value. The current ratio uses the most recent LBMA fixes committed to the site; the chart fetches the full daily series from LBMA directly.
Related: silver vs gold, gold price history, silver price history, how to buy silver, how to buy gold.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the gold-silver ratio today?
67.6 ounces of silver per ounce of gold, based on the LBMA fixes of 28 September 2026 (gold $4,145, silver $61.33). A year earlier it was 81.5. The chart on this page updates from LBMA data every trading day.
What is a "normal" gold-silver ratio?
There is no single normal. Since the end of the gold standard in 1971 the daily ratio has averaged 61.4 with a median of 63.5, but it has ranged from 14 (January 1980) to 123.5 (March 2020). It has spent 56 percent of trading days between 50 and 80, which is the practical neutral zone.
What does a high gold-silver ratio mean?
Silver is cheap relative to gold. Readings above 80 have occurred on about 16 percent of trading days since 1971 and have usually been followed by silver outperforming gold over the next one to three years, though the wait can be long: the ratio stayed above 80 for most of 2019 to 2025 before collapsing.
What does a low gold-silver ratio mean?
Silver is expensive relative to gold, usually after a silver-led rally. Readings below 40 have occurred only at the 1980 and 2011 silver peaks in the modern era, and each was followed by years of gold outperformance.
Should I trade the ratio with physical metal or ETFs?
ETFs cost under 1 percent per round trip, physical metal 5 to 10 percent once dealer spreads and shipping are counted, so ETFs make modest ratio moves actionable while physical swaps only pay for large ones (20 points or more). Taxes differ too: physical metals are taxed as collectibles at up to 28 percent.
What ratio should trigger a swap from gold to silver?
Most practitioners use 80 as the threshold for favouring silver and 50 to 60 for favouring gold, derived from the post-1971 distribution. Wider bands (90 and 50) mean fewer, larger trades; tighter bands (75 and 60) mean more frequent signals with less edge per trade.
How long does the ratio take to revert?
Round trips between extremes have taken anywhere from twelve months (125 to 65 between March 2020 and early 2021) to seven years (32 to 90 between 2011 and 2018). The 2025 to 2026 move from 105 to 45 took nine months. Treat it as a multi-year strategy.
Does the gold-silver ratio predict the direction of prices?
No. It measures relative performance only. Both metals fell between 2011 and 2015 while the ratio rose; both rose between 2019 and 2026 while the ratio fell. Use it for the split between gold and silver, not for deciding whether to own metals at all.