Gold is dispersed throughout the Earth's crust and has since ancient times been valued both for its scarcity and for its metallurgical properties. Before the 19th century, most nations maintained a bimetallic monetary system, which often included gold but consisted mainly of silver. Starting in Britain in 1821, monetary units were exchangeable for a fixed amount of gold at a predetermined Gold Price Per Ounce, a change that Britain expected would stabilize its rapidly growing economy. As the Industrial Revolution spread, other countries followed suit, and by the end of the 19th century, most industrialized nations were following the gold standard. In the new global economy, the common standard facilitated international monetary transactions and stabilized exchange rates.
When inflation rises, the value of the dollar falls and some investors flock to gold in the hope that it will serve as a stable store of value. To illustrate, in 301 CE, a pound of gold was worth 50,000 denarii, which is another silver-based currency. Interest rates are linked to inflation, so they have historically also been closely related to gold prices. In 1914, the restriction on gold exports at the outbreak of the First World War forced the use of inconvertible paper money.
Due to its value and its usefulness as a currency, the evolution of the value of gold dates back to 30 BC. C. In the United States and many other countries, currencies remained “linked to gold” until the 1970s, when the decline in global reserves marked the gold standard's last death sentence. Commodity traders, who often trade futures, are the most likely to differentiate the spot price from the price of futures, or the price guaranteed by a futures contract.
When the strength of the dollar increases and inflation decreases, interest rates can be expected to fall at the same time as gold prices. From 284 to 305 AD, Diocletian further downgraded gold to 70 coins per pound initially, but coins were later issued at 60 coins per pound. Roosevelt banned the circulation of gold coins, although gold was still used to define the value of the dollar. The following chart shows the price of gold since 1968, with some notable events in the gold market.
Here's some research I did to explore what caused gold prices to rise (and then) fall so dramatically in the first 3 months of 1980. Gold for dollars held by foreigners, then, in 1974, it lifted its four-decade ban on the private purchase of gold.
