Educational content. This article defines the gold-silver ratio and shows how it is calculated and sized on XAUUSD and XAGUSD. It does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation. CFD trading carries significant risk of loss and may not be suitable for all investors.
The gold-silver ratio is the price of one ounce of gold divided by the price of one ounce of silver. It tells you how many ounces of silver equal one ounce of gold in value. On the Vanto feed snapshot of 10 October 2026, XAUUSD at 4,194.52 and XAGUSD at 60.83 gave a ratio of 68.96.
This article gives the calculation, shows how the two contract sizes change what "equal exposure" means, and works through how a one-point move in the ratio translates into a profit or loss. The figures are arithmetic from a data snapshot, not forecasts.
How Do You Calculate the Gold-Silver Ratio?
Gold-silver ratio = XAUUSD price / XAGUSD price.
Both prices are quoted in US dollars per troy ounce, so the currency cancels and the result is a plain number. On the Vanto feed snapshot of 10 October 2026:
- XAUUSD bid 4,194.38, ask 4,194.65, mid 4,194.515
- XAGUSD bid 60.8035, ask 60.8495, mid 60.8265
- Ratio on mid prices: 4,194.515 / 60.8265 = 68.96
Using mid prices is a convention. A real trade does not happen at the mid. Buying gold and selling silver happens at the gold ask and the silver bid, which gives 4,194.65 / 60.8035 = 68.99. The opposite trade happens at the gold bid and the silver ask, which gives 4,194.38 / 60.8495 = 68.93. The ratio you can actually trade therefore sits in a narrow band around the mid figure, not on a single number. That band is the two spreads added together; the cost side is covered in what is the spread in trading.
What Does a Ratio of 69 Mean?
A ratio of 69 means gold costs 69 times as much per ounce as silver. Equivalently, the dollar value of 1 ounce of gold buys 69 ounces of silver. The number carries no judgement on its own. It is a price relationship, like an exchange rate between two metals.
The ratio is dimensionless and moves with either metal. This is the point that most definitions skip, so it is worth a table:
| What happens | Ratio |
|---|---|
| Gold rises, silver unchanged | Rises |
| Silver falls, gold unchanged | Rises |
| Gold falls, silver unchanged | Falls |
| Silver rises, gold unchanged | Falls |
| Both rise by the same percentage | Unchanged |
| Both fall by the same percentage | Unchanged |
A rising ratio means gold is gaining on silver. It does not tell you whether gold went up, silver went down, or both moved by different amounts.
What Price Does Silver Imply at Each Ratio Level?
For a fixed gold price, the ratio and the silver price are two ways of stating the same thing: silver = gold / ratio. Holding gold at the snapshot mid of 4,194.515, a ratio table converts directly into silver prices:
| Ratio | Implied XAGUSD (gold held at 4,194.52) |
|---|---|
| 60 | 69.91 |
| 65 | 64.53 |
| 69 | 60.79 |
| 75 | 55.93 |
| 80 | 52.43 |
| 90 | 46.61 |
Source: Vanto feed snapshot, 10 October 2026, arithmetic only. The table is a unit conversion, not a prediction of where silver will trade.
The table also shows how sensitive the ratio is. With gold fixed, moving from 69 to 75 requires silver to fall from 60.79 to 55.93, a drop of 8%. The same drop in the ratio's own units looks small, which is why the ratio feels slow while each metal is moving quickly.
A related point sits in the existing guides: how the ratio has behaved over past decades, and how it responds to inflation data, is covered in gold vs silver during inflation and how US CPI day moves gold and silver.
Why Does 1 Lot of Gold Not Match 1 Lot of Silver?
One lot of XAUUSD is 100 ounces and one lot of XAGUSD is 5,000 ounces, so equal lots are very unequal in dollars. Contract size is read from the feed, and the notional value of one lot is contract size times price:
| Instrument | Contract size | Mid price | Notional of 1 lot | Notional of 0.01 lot | Margin for 1 lot at 1:500 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XAUUSD | 100 oz | 4,194.52 | USD 419,451.50 | USD 4,194.52 | USD 838.90 |
| XAGUSD | 5,000 oz | 60.83 | USD 304,132.50 | USD 3,041.33 | USD 608.27 |
Source: Vanto feed snapshot, 10 October 2026. Margin = notional / 500, the maximum leverage for metals; margin mechanics are explained separately.
A trader who buys 1 lot of gold and sells 1 lot of silver has not built a ratio position. The gold leg is USD 419,452 and the silver leg is USD 304,133, so the pair carries a net gold exposure of USD 115,319 that has nothing to do with the ratio. A 1% rise in both metals would produce a profit on gold of USD 4,194.52 and a loss on silver of USD 3,041.33, even though the ratio did not change.
How Do You Size a Dollar-Matched Gold-Silver Pair?
Divide the gold notional by the silver notional to find the lot ratio:
Silver lots = gold lots x (100 x gold price) / (5,000 x silver price)
On the snapshot: 419,451.50 / 304,132.50 = 1.379. One lot of gold is balanced by about 1.38 lots of silver. The factor is the ratio itself divided by 50, because the silver contract is 50 times larger than the gold contract (5,000 / 100). That relationship is why the factor changes whenever the ratio changes: a lot match that was right at a ratio of 59 is wrong at 69.
Because lots trade in steps of 0.01 (the feed shows a minimum and step of 0.01 lot for both), the match is rounded:
- Gold: 0.10 lot = 10 oz = USD 41,945.15 notional, margin USD 83.89 at 1:500
- Silver: 0.14 lot = 700 oz = USD 42,578.55 notional, margin USD 85.16 at 1:500
- Silver leg is 42,578.55 / 41,945.15 - 1 = 1.5% larger than the gold leg
The exact silver size would be 0.1379 lot, which cannot be entered. The rounding leaves about 1.5% of the gold leg as a residual silver exposure. Smaller trades are worse: at 0.01 lot of gold, the exact silver size is 0.0138 lot, which rounds to 0.01 and leaves the silver leg 27% too small. Sizing arithmetic of this kind is described in what is position sizing.
Each leg carries its own margin figure. This article states margin per position only; how margin is treated when positions oppose each other is not covered here, and the account's margin call level is 100% with a stop-out at 50% on both Standard and Raw accounts (see what is the stop-out level in trading).
How Much Is One Point of the Ratio Worth?
One point of the ratio at 68.96 is a move of about 1.45% in gold or 1.43% in silver, and on a 0.10 lot gold, 0.14 lot silver pair that is worth about USD 609 if silver does the moving. The arithmetic:
- Silver price that makes the ratio 69.96 with gold unchanged: 4,194.515 / 69.96 = 59.96
- Silver move: 59.96 - 60.83 = -0.87, or -1.43%
- Effect of that move on a silver position of 700 oz: 0.87 x 700 = about USD 609 (profit if short silver, loss if long silver)
- If gold moves instead: gold needs to reach 60.8265 x 69.96 = 4,255.34, a rise of 1.45% or USD 60.83 per ounce, worth USD 608 on 10 oz
The figures match because the pair is dollar-matched. One point of ratio is worth the same whichever metal causes it, and that is the practical meaning of a matched pair.
Worked Example: Five Market Scenarios on One Pair
To see how the ratio, not the direction, drives the result, take the 0.10 lot gold (long) and 0.14 lot silver (short) pair from the sizing section, starting at the snapshot mids. The position is long gold and short silver, so it benefits when the ratio rises.
| Scenario | Gold | Silver | New ratio | Gold leg P/L | Silver leg P/L | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Both metals up equally | +5% | +5% | 68.96 | +USD 2,097 | -USD 2,129 | -USD 32 |
| 2. Silver falls, gold flat | 0% | -1.43% | 69.96 | USD 0 | +USD 609 | +USD 609 |
| 3. Both up, silver faster | +5% | +10% | 65.82 | +USD 2,097 | -USD 4,258 | -USD 2,161 |
| 4. Both down, silver faster | -3% | -8% | 72.71 | -USD 1,258 | +USD 3,406 | +USD 2,148 |
| 5. Gold up, silver down slightly | +4% | -1% | 72.44 | +USD 1,678 | +USD 426 | +USD 2,104 |
Source: Vanto feed snapshot, 10 October 2026, entry at mid prices. Hypothetical moves, not forecasts. Spread, swap and commission are excluded.
Scenario 1 shows the point of matching: a 5% rally in both metals leaves the pair almost unchanged, a loss of USD 32 caused by the 1.5% rounding, even though each leg moved by thousands of dollars. Scenario 3 shows the opposite risk: both metals rose, gold made money, and the position still lost USD 2,161 because silver rose faster. A ratio position has no protection against the ratio moving the wrong way, and it is the leg moves that make the daily result large.
What Are the Costs of Holding a Ratio Position?
A ratio position pays costs on two instruments. The spread is paid twice, once for each leg, and silver's spread is wider relative to its price than gold's, which makes the silver leg the larger share of the entry cost. The earlier snapshot band of 68.93 to 68.99 illustrates this: it is the ratio as seen from both sides.
Overnight swap is charged on each leg separately. The structural pattern on the snapshot is that XAUUSD swap is a debit on long positions and a credit on short positions, while XAGUSD swap is a debit in both directions. Swap values change with market rates and are not stated here, but the sign pattern means the long-gold, short-silver pair and the long-silver, short-gold pair carry different overnight costs. Both metals charge triple swap on Wednesday, which is explained in what is a triple swap day, and general swap mechanics are in what is swap in trading.
When Does the Ratio Rule of Thumb Break Down?
The ratio does not have to return to an average, and a position built on that assumption can lose on both legs for a long time. Four breaks matter in practice:
- The ratio can trend. It changes whenever either price changes, and it can stay high or low for long periods. A fixed idea of a "normal" level ignores that gold and silver have different drivers, including industrial demand for silver and monetary demand for gold.
- The match drifts. A lot ratio of 1.38 is correct only at a ratio of 69. As prices move the pair becomes unbalanced and needs resizing, with a new spread cost each time.
- Volatility is not equal. Silver tends to move further than gold in the same period, so a dollar-matched pair has a larger silver risk than gold risk. The detail is in how to avoid a stop-out when trading silver.
- Leverage amplifies both outcomes. At 1:500 on metals, a position can lose more than the margin set aside for it. Leverage amplifies losses as well as gains, and the account's stop-out level applies to the whole account, not to the pair.
The strategy side, including how traders set entries and exits on the ratio, is in commodity spread trading strategy and pair trading.
Common Mistakes When Using the Ratio
- Equal lots. 1 lot against 1 lot leaves a net USD 115,319 gold exposure on the snapshot.
- Treating the mid price as the trading price. The tradable ratio depends on which side of each spread you pay.
- Reading a ratio move as a gold or silver signal. A rising ratio does not say which metal is responsible.
- Ignoring the lot step. At small sizes, rounding can leave one leg 27% off.
- Forgetting that the lot ratio changes with the ratio. A matched pair at 59 is not matched at 69.
Summary: Ratio Versus Single-Metal Trade
| Feature | Single metal (XAUUSD or XAGUSD) | Ratio position (both legs) |
|---|---|---|
| What drives the result | Price of one metal | Difference in percentage moves of the two metals |
| Contracts involved | One | Two, with different contract sizes |
| Spread paid | Once | Twice |
| Swap | One sign pattern | Two, possibly different |
| Size match needed | No | Yes, about 1.38 lots silver per 1 lot gold at 68.96 |
| Leverage (max) | 1:500 | 1:500 on each leg |
| Margin call / stop-out | 100% / 50% | 100% / 50%, for the account |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the gold-silver ratio in simple terms?
The gold-silver ratio is the number of ounces of silver that equal the value of one ounce of gold, found by dividing the gold price by the silver price. On the Vanto feed snapshot of 10 October 2026 it was 68.96. It is a price relationship, not a price.
How do you calculate the gold-silver ratio on MT5?
Divide the XAUUSD price by the XAGUSD price, both in USD per ounce. Using mid prices gives one number; using the ask of one and the bid of the other gives the ratio you would actually trade at, which is slightly different.
Does a high gold-silver ratio mean silver is cheap?
Not by itself. A high ratio means silver is low relative to gold, but the ratio can stay high for long periods, and silver can fall further while the ratio rises. The ratio describes a relationship, not a value judgement.
Why is the lot ratio between gold and silver about 1.38?
Because 1 lot of XAUUSD is 100 ounces and 1 lot of XAGUSD is 5,000 ounces. Matching dollar exposure requires 100 x gold price divided by 5,000 x silver price, which was 1.379 on the 10 October 2026 snapshot and changes with the ratio.
Is the gold-silver ratio a trading signal?
No. It is a calculation, and it carries no forecast. Whether a ratio position makes or loses money depends on how each metal moves, the size match, the costs, and the leverage used, all of which can work against the position.
What leverage applies to a gold-silver ratio position?
The maximum leverage at Vanto is 1:500 for both gold and silver. Each leg is a separate position with its own margin, and the account has a margin call at 100% and a stop-out at 50%. Leverage amplifies losses as well as gains.
Calculate the Numbers Before You Size a Position
Use the trading calculator to check the notional value and margin of each leg for your lot size before you open either position. Vanto offers XAUUSD and XAGUSD on MT5 with the contract sizes shown above.
Risk warning. Trading securities, futures, options, and contracts for differences are complex financial instruments that require knowledge and understanding. Prices can fluctuate significantly and securities may become valueless. Investors may incur losses exceeding the potential for profits. Trading on margin can result in losses greater than the amount initially deposited. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance. The information in this article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any financial instrument. Consider whether CFD trading is appropriate for your circumstances and seek independent advice if necessary.