Category Challenges of the Silver-Gold Ratio: 16 to 1 and Beyond

The bimetallic standard, which aimed to balance silver and gold at a fixed exchange ratio—most famously 16 to 1—faced significant challenges due to market forces, arbitrage opportunities, and unpredictable mining discoveries. While governments sought to stabilize their monetary systems by…

The fixed exchange ratio between silver and gold was a cornerstone of the bimetallic monetary systems used by many nations in the 18th and 19th centuries. By legally defining a set value between the two metals—most famously at 16 to…