Despite all the turmoil in the world, the gold and silver price today has largely remained stable despite all the changes. The original use of gold as legal tender in the U.S., and internationally, has been replaced by investing. This has led to a dramatic shift in its value over the years. Many consider gold a commodity that is more valuable for a collection than it is as an investment or other use.
In many cases, the gold rushes of years past made gold very valuable and made anyone who mined it rich. Different gold rushes were held during the 19th century. They helped gold-mining areas and towns become thriving cities thanks to the influx of immigrants and pioneers who came to mine it. The gold rush was the catalyst for many cities, including San Francisco and Melbourne.
The gold standard was a method used to determine gold prices in the 20th century. In other words, currencies from many western countries were tied to the price for gold. The U.S. government eliminated the U.S. Dollar in 1971 from the gold standard. The free market allowed gold to determine its own price, making it more valuable and useful as an investment tool than ever before. Gold reached an all-time high of $850 per ounce in 1980 when it hit a new record on the stock market. Investors who wanted to cash-in on their investments saw this as a boom, but it didn’t last long.
From that point on, the price of gold began to decline. It reached an all-time low of just under $253 per ounce in 1999 when it was taken off of the gold standard. This was unprecedented. The markets changed dramatically after September 11, 2001. Since then, gold prices have been steadily rising. The value of gold reached $715 an ounce in 2006, another record for the precious metal. The gold price reached an all-time high of $1023.50 on March 17, 2008. This was the first time gold has ever surpassed the magical $1,000 mark.