Gold vs. Silver
Gold and silver are both precious metals, but they behave differently: gold is mostly held as money and a store of value, while silver is also an industrial metal, so it swings further in both directions. The first chart indexes both prices to 100 on a log scale so their returns can be read on one axis. The second shows the gold-to-silver ratio, the number of ounces of silver that one ounce of gold buys.
| Measure | Gold | Silver |
|---|---|---|
| Total returnOver the selected window | +10830.50% | +2438.73% |
| Annualised (CAGR)Compound yearly rate | +8.35% | +5.68% |
| Max drawdownWorst peak-to-trough fall | −70.3% | −92.8% |
| CorrelationDaily moves, −1 to +1 | 0.57over 59 yrs | |
Gold outperformed by 8391.8 pts over this window (+10830.50% gold vs +2438.73% Silver).
The gold-to-silver ratio
A high ratio means silver is cheap compared with gold, a low ratio means it is dear. It tends to rise when markets are fearful and fall when industrial demand is strong, and it has swung widely over the decades.
Today’s ratio is higher than in 70% of the months since 1968. That is a description of history, not a signal: the ratio can stay far from its average for years.
How to read this
- Both prices are US dollars per troy ounce, daily from April 1968. The ratio uses the month-end close of each.
- Silver’s big spikes (around 1980 and 2011) and slumps show why it is the more volatile metal.
- Past figures only; nothing here is investment advice. See About & methodology for sources.