Based on that peerless source of unimpeachable truth, research by an Internet rando, the gold/silver price ratio in ancient and medieval economies (before the influx of silver from the New World) tended to hover between 8-to-1 and 12-to-1. The PHB's choice of 10-to-1 is dead in the middle of that range, and has the great virtue of simplicity on top of that.
This other Internet rando's research suggests silver/copper ratios ranging from 40-to-1 to 100-to-1. The PHB's choice of 10-to-1 is not completely out of the ballpark, but it's pushing the limit. If I were designing a currency system and trying to inject some realism, while maintaining ease of use at the table, I'd pick 100-to-1: 1 gp = 10 sp = 1,000 cp.
To the original question of "Should D&D be converted to a silver standard?"--I would like it if it were, and I'd happily play in a campaign where that was the case. However, from a DM perspective, it fails my test of "Is this important enough to make my players remember a house rule?"
This other Internet rando's research suggests silver/copper ratios ranging from 40-to-1 to 100-to-1. The PHB's choice of 10-to-1 is not completely out of the ballpark, but it's pushing the limit. If I were designing a currency system and trying to inject some realism, while maintaining ease of use at the table, I'd pick 100-to-1: 1 gp = 10 sp = 1,000 cp.
To the original question of "Should D&D be converted to a silver standard?"--I would like it if it were, and I'd happily play in a campaign where that was the case. However, from a DM perspective, it fails my test of "Is this important enough to make my players remember a house rule?"