The benefits of the gold/silver ratio arise when there are fluctuations. Today, gold and silver trade mostly in sync with each other without a lot of shifts or variations. But when the ratio widens or narrow to levels that are considered extreme, trading opportunities are created. If the gold/silver ratio widens to 100 then a consumer who owns one ounce of gold could sell it and buy 100 ounces of silver. When the ratio widens silver becomes more favorable because, relative to the ratio, silver is somewhat inexpensive. Trading based on the the gold to silver ratio is considered by many to be a good strategy to follow when trying to accumulate either gold or silver.