gold-silver ratio when it was money and currency used to be 1:16.  lately it almost got to 1:100, now it is about 1:80

I dont think it will get back to  1:16, but 1:40 is certainly doable. if gold stayed around 4000, silver would be at 200, $5,000 gold would put silver at$240.  

the question you have to ask really is how low can the purchasing power of a paper or digital currency fall?

the story ive heard is 100 people think they own silver in one form or another for every ounce of silver that is physically available.  Just like. gold dollars in 1929-30.  banks took deposits, and then lent out the deposits.  when the first bank failed, everyone wanted their gold money back and the banks had lent it out and couldnt provide it.

in london, gold has been deposited, leased to someone else and sold, re deposited and leased to someone else, over and over again.  MF global called it rehypothicated silver when they went bankrupt.  this last month nearly everyone stood for delivery AND removed it from their vault rather than take a paper deposit reciept for it.  

lease rates went from 1% to 100% last week if you could find someone to lease it from to meet your delivery obligations for the imaginary silver sold on contract that needed to be bought back before delivery.

so the first 1% of the 100 made it to the "bank" and withdrew their silver leaving the 99% of silver owners demanding their silver withdrawl too from banks and speculators that must buy some to return the "depositors.  this has yet to play out.  backwardation has started, the short squeese has begun.  look for the banks to change the rules to save themselves and deliver in cash freshly printed or created on a computer.

Any exchange that does so will save themselves but loose all legitimacy as a price setter, price will decouple and physical silver will be one price while IOUs for silver will be much lower. IMHO