Silver is a very confusing issue - I read in one article that you should buy it, another states that it's inflated.  So what is the deal?

Although I do not pretend to be a Silver Expert - (if I was - then I would be living in some Italian Villa) but I like to consider this:  (using rounded numbers for ease here) In 1930 gold was $20 an ounce.  At that time, if you had  twenty Morgan or Peace Silver Dollars - each containing .774 approx ozt of Silver, you could exchange that for an ounce of gold.  Thus a ratio of about 16 to 1 (that's sixteen units of Silver would buy you one Unit of Gold).  Also consider: In the ancient world the silver to gold ratio was about 15 to 1 and in the middle ages (if I remember this right) it was closer to 21 to 1. 

Translated into today's market: As of today (8/30/07) Silver is at $11.79 an ounce and Gold is $665.00 - so the ratio is 56.4 units of Silver will get you ONE unit of gold! 

On one hand, we have 5,000 years of human history where the Silver to Gold ratio has been around 17.5 to 1.  On the other hand, in current times the Silver to Gold ratio is 56 to 1! 

You decided: is silver simply under-valued (historically that seems to be the case) or is the value of Silver low (compared to Gold) because it is un-desirable?