The Price of Gold, 1257 - Present

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      What Was the Price of Gold?
London market price (1718-Present)
Gold/silver price ratio (1687-Present)
New York market price (1791-Present)
U.S. official price (1786-Present)
British official price (1257-1945)
       Initial Year:  
       Ending Year:
     
YearLondon Market Price
(British £ [1718-1949] or
U.S. $ [1950-Present] per fine ounce)
1718£ 4.31
1719£ 4.26
1720£ 4.31
1721£ 4.26
1722£ 4.25
1723£ 4.26
1724£ 4.25
1725£ 4.25
1726£ 4.25
1727£ 4.25
1728£ 4.28
1729£ 4.30
1730£ 4.29
1731£ 4.26
1732£ 4.26
1733£ 4.27
1734£ 4.26
1735£ 4.28
1736£ 4.26
1737£ 4.26
1738£ 4.26
1739£ 4.25
1740£ 4.25
1741£ 4.27
1742£ 4.28
1743£ 4.30
1744£ 4.31
1745£ 4.29
1746£ 4.25
1747£ 4.28
1748£ 4.26
1749£ 4.25
1750£ 4.26
1751£ 4.25
1752£ 4.26
1753£ 4.27
1754£ 4.25
1755£ 4.25
1756£ 4.25
1757£ 4.25
1758£ 4.30
1759£ 4.33
1760£ 4.30
1761£ 4.35
1762£ 4.32
1763£ 4.37
1764£ 4.26
1765£ 4.26
1766£ 4.31
1767£ 4.34
1768£ 4.32
1769£ 4.38
1770£ 4.37
1771£ 4.35
1772£ 4.35
1773£ 4.25
1774£ 4.24
1775£ 4.23
1776£ 4.23
1777£ 4.23
1778£ 4.23
1779£ 4.23
1780£ 4.23
1781£ 4.23
1782£ 4.23
1783£ 4.25
1784£ 4.25
1785£ 4.24
1786£ 4.23
1787£ 4.23
1788£ 4.23
1789£ 4.23
1790£ 4.23
1791£ 4.23
1792£ 4.23
1793£ 4.23
1794£ 4.23
1795£ 4.23
1796£ 4.23
1797£ 4.23
1798£ 4.25
1799£ 4.24
1800£ 4.26
1801£ 4.29
1802£ 4.31
1803£ 4.34
1804£ 4.36
1805£ 4.36
1806£ 4.42
1807£ 4.47
1808£ 4.52
1809£ 4.58
1810£ 4.63
1811£ 5.19
1812£ 5.48
1813£ 5.76
1814£ 5.21
1815£ 4.99
1816£ 4.36
1817£ 4.33
1818£ 4.44
1819£ 4.36
1820£ 4.25
1821£ 4.25
1822£ 4.24
1823£ 4.23
1824£ 4.23
1825£ 4.24
1826£ 4.23
1827£ 4.23
1828£ 4.23
1829£ 4.24
1830£ 4.24
1831£ 4.25
1832£ 4.24
1833£ 4.24
1834£ 4.24
1835£ 4.24
1836£ 4.24
1837£ 4.24
1838£ 4.24
1839£ 4.25
1840£ 4.24
1841£ 4.24
1842£ 4.24
1843£ 4.24
1844£ 4.24
1845£ 4.24
1846£ 4.24
1847£ 4.24
1848£ 4.24
1849£ 4.24
1850£ 4.24
1851£ 4.24
1852£ 4.24
1853£ 4.24
1854£ 4.24
1855£ 4.24
1856£ 4.24
1857£ 4.24
1858£ 4.24
1859£ 4.24
1860£ 4.24
1861£ 4.24
1862£ 4.24
1863£ 4.24
1864£ 4.24
1865£ 4.24
1866£ 4.24
1867£ 4.24
1868£ 4.24
1869£ 4.24
1870£ 4.24
1871£ 4.24
1872£ 4.24
1873£ 4.24
1874£ 4.24
1875£ 4.24
1876£ 4.24
1877£ 4.24
1878£ 4.24
1879£ 4.24
1880£ 4.24
1881£ 4.24
1882£ 4.24
1883£ 4.24
1884£ 4.24
1885£ 4.24
1886£ 4.24
1887£ 4.24
1888£ 4.24
1889£ 4.24
1890£ 4.24
1891£ 4.25
1892£ 4.25
1893£ 4.25
1894£ 4.24
1895£ 4.24
1896£ 4.25
1897£ 4.25
1898£ 4.25
1899£ 4.24
1900£ 4.25
1901£ 4.25
1902£ 4.24
1903£ 4.25
1904£ 4.25
1905£ 4.24
1906£ 4.25
1907£ 4.25
1908£ 4.25
1909£ 4.24
1910£ 4.24
1911£ 4.24
1912£ 4.24
1913£ 4.24
1914£ 4.24
1915£ 4.24
1916£ 4.24
1917£ 4.24
1918£ 4.24
1919£ 4.50
1920£ 5.65
1921£ 5.35
1922£ 4.67
1923£ 4.51
1924£ 4.69
1925£ 4.27
1926£ 4.25
1927£ 4.25
1928£ 4.25
1929£ 4.25
1930£ 4.25
1931£ 4.63
1932£ 5.90
1933£ 6.24
1934£ 6.88
1935£ 7.11
1936£ 7.01
1937£ 7.04
1938£ 7.13
1939£ 7.72
1940£ 8.40
1941£ 8.40
1942£ 8.40
1943£ 8.40
1944£ 8.40
1945£ 8.40
1946£ 8.40
1947£ 8.40
1948£ 8.40
1949£ 8.40
1950$ 34.71
1951$ 34.71
1952$ 34.71
1953$ 34.71
1954$ 34.96
1955$ 35.01
1956$ 35.00
1957$ 34.95
1958$ 35.10
1959$ 35.09
1960$ 35.28
1961$ 35.15
1962$ 35.10
1963$ 35.09
1964$ 35.09
1965$ 35.13
1966$ 35.17
1967$ 35.19
1968$ 38.69
1969$ 41.09
1970$ 35.94
1971$ 40.80
1972$ 58.16
1973$ 97.32
1974$ 159.26
1975$ 161.02
1976$ 124.84
1977$ 147.71
1978$ 193.22
1979$ 306.68
1980$ 612.56
1981$ 460.03
1982$ 375.67
1983$ 424.35
1984$ 360.48
1985$ 317.28
1986$ 367.51
1987$ 446.47
1988$ 437.05
1989$ 381.43
1990$ 383.47
1991$ 362.18
1992$ 343.73
1993$ 359.77
1994$ 384.01
1995$ 384.16
1996$ 387.69
1997$ 331.10
1998$ 294.16
1999$ 278.64
2000$ 279.03
2001$ 271.04
2002$ 309.68
2003$ 363.32
2004$ 409.17
2005$ 444.45
2006$ 603.77
2007$ 695.39
2008$ 871.96
2009$ 972.35
2010$ 1,224.53
2011$ 1,571.52
2012$ 1,668.98
2013$ 1,411.23
2014$ 1,266.40
2015$ 1,160.06
2016$ 1,250.74
2017$ 1,257.12
2018$ 1,268.92
2019$ 1,393.34
2020$ 1,771.54

Note: British official price is only available till 1945.

To help understand where the historical data come from, you should read What Was the Price of Gold Then? Importance, Measurement, and History (25K PDF). The specialist or the serious user will also want to read What was the Price of Gold Then? A Data Study (111K PDF). This essay considers the five gold-price series one by one and provides a detailed description and evaluation of the existing work on the specific price.

The recent source of annual London Market Prices is the average of the daily London PM Fix found on www.kitco.com. This is the price most users quote.

The source of annual New York Market Prices is the U.S. Geological Survey which is "averaging Engelhard’s gold price quotations." See footnot 4 at minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/gold.

Please read our Note on Data Revisions.


These data may be used for non-profit educational purposes if proper credit is given. You need not ask for permission. If you need to publish a table of more than five consecutive years of these data in electronic or print documents, we ask that you contact us first. If you are using these data in a document for profit purpose, we expect to be cited and that the user will make a donation to our cite. Anyone is allowed to publish electronic links to these data.

Citation

Lawrence H. Officer and Samuel H. Williamson, "The Price of Gold, 1257-Present," MeasuringWorth,
URL: http://www.measuringworth.com/gold/



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