Gold to Silver Ratio Explained: History and Range

The gold to silver ratio is how many ounces of silver one ounce of gold buys. It was 65.74 on Sept. 21, 2026 and has ranged from near 30 to above 120.

The gold to silver ratio is the number of ounces of silver that one ounce of gold buys. It stood at 65.74 on September 21, 2026. In modern markets it has ranged from near 30 to above 120, and there is no official or fixed “normal” level.

This piece covers how the ratio is calculated, where it came from, the dated range, and what drives it.

What the ratio measures

Take the gold price per ounce and divide it by the silver price per ounce. Both are usually quoted in US dollars per troy ounce.

On September 21, 2026, USAGOLD’s daily report showed gold at $4,353.31 and silver at $66.22. Divide the first by the second and you get 65.74.

A few things follow from that:

A rising ratio means gold is outperforming silver, or falling less.
A falling ratio means silver is outperforming gold.
The ratio is a relative price. It says nothing about whether either metal is expensive or cheap on its own terms.
The currency cancels out. Because both prices are in the same currency, the ratio is the same whether you quote gold and silver in US dollars or Canadian dollars.

When the ratio was set by law

For most of recorded history, governments set the ratio, because both metals circulated as money. A 2020 analysis published on Nasdaq compiled historical estimates: about 2.5 in ancient Egypt, 6 in Babylon, 13.33 in ancient Greece and 10.5 in the later Roman Empire. BullionVault puts Western Europe at about 12 in the Middle Ages and about 16 at the start of the 20th century.

The US wrote the number into statute. Section 11 of the Coinage Act of April 2, 1792 says “the proportional value of gold to silver in all coins which shall by law be current as money within the United States, shall be as fifteen to one.”

Fixed legal ratios break when the market ratio drifts away from them. The Coinage Act of 1834 moved the US ratio to 16 to 1. That valued silver below its market price, so silver coins were exported to Europe, where they fetched more, and nearly disappeared from US circulation. Once governments stopped using silver as money, the ratio floated freely, and BullionVault notes it has become far more volatile since.

The floating ratio: a dated range

Date	Gold to silver ratio	Context
1940 (average)	99.76	Prior modern high, per Nasdaq-published data
Early 1990s	Almost 100	Per BullionVault
2007 to 2009	Above 80	Banking crisis, per BullionVault
2011	Near 30	Silver near $50 an ounce, per BullionVault
2019 (average)	86.04	Per Nasdaq-published data
March 2020	123.78 peak	COVID market selloff, a record on most modern data sets
April 4, 2025	Above 100	Gold $3,019, silver $29.62, per Kitco
September 21, 2026	65.74	Gold $4,353.31, silver $66.22, per USAGOLD

The table shows two things. The swings are large, and the extremes arrive during stress. In March 2020 and April 2025, silver fell harder than gold as markets sold off. In April 2025, Kitco reported silver down 13% on the week against a 4% drop in gold, as tariff announcements raised recession concerns.

Why the ratio moves

Gold and silver trade on different demand.

Silver is partly an industrial metal. The USGS reports that in the US in 2025, electrical and electronics uses took about 25% of consumption, photovoltaics about 15% and other industrial uses about 19%. That ties silver demand to the economic cycle more than gold.
Silver supply is mostly a byproduct. The USGS says silver was primarily obtained as a byproduct of lead-zinc, copper and gold mines. Output depends heavily on those metals, so it does not respond much to the silver price.
Gold is held heavily as a reserve and investment asset. Central bank and ETF flows can move gold without any matching move in silver.
Silver’s market is smaller, so a given flow of money moves its price further in both directions.

For more on silver’s industrial side, see our piece on silver demand, solar and the supply deficit.

The math

A useful comparison is the price ratio against the mining ratio. The USGS estimates 2025 world mine production at 26,000 tonnes of silver and 3,300 tonnes of gold.

Mine output ratio: 26,000 divided by 3,300 is about 7.9. The world mined roughly 7.9 ounces of silver for every ounce of gold in 2025.
Price ratio on September 21, 2026: 65.74.

So the market valued an ounce of gold at more than eight times what relative mine supply alone would suggest. The gap reflects demand and above-ground stocks: most gold ever mined is still held as bars, coins, jewellery and reserves, while much silver is consumed in industry.

A second calculation shows why people track the ratio. At a ratio of 100, as on April 4, 2025, one ounce of gold equalled about 100 ounces of silver. At 65.74, 100 ounces of silver equals about 1.52 ounces of gold. That is arithmetic on past prices. The ratio has no obligation to return to any level, and its long-run “average” changes depending on which years you pick.

The table makes that plain. An average taken over the 1940s would sit near 100. One taken around 2011 would sit much lower. One taken over 2019 would land near 86. Anyone quoting a “historical average” ratio is choosing a window, and the choice drives the answer. When you see a claim that the ratio is “high” or “low,” the first question is: compared with which years?

What to watch

Daily LBMA gold and silver benchmark prices, which give a consistent ratio series.
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries, published annually, for updated mine output of both metals.
The Silver Institute’s annual World Silver Survey, for industrial demand and supply balance data.
World Gold Council monthly ETF flow data, since investment flows into gold often drive the ratio’s big moves.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

What is the gold to silver ratio?

The gold to silver ratio is the gold price per ounce divided by the silver price per ounce, which gives the number of ounces of silver one ounce of gold buys. On September 21, 2026, gold at $4,353.31 and silver at $66.22 gave a ratio of 65.74. A rising ratio means gold is outperforming silver.

What is the highest gold to silver ratio in history?

The modern record came in March 2020, when the ratio peaked at 123.78 during the COVID market selloff, according to data published on Nasdaq. The previous modern high was a 1940 average of 99.76. The ratio also rose above 100 on April 4, 2025, when silver fell 13% in a week.

What was the historical gold to silver ratio?

When both metals circulated as money, governments set the ratio. The US Coinage Act of 1792 fixed it at 15 to 1, and the Coinage Act of 1834 moved it to 16 to 1. BullionVault puts Western Europe at about 16 at the start of the 20th century. Since then it has floated, ranging from near 30 to above 120.

The Gold to Silver Ratio Explained: What It Measures and Its Historical Range