Historical Gold Prices (Annual Data and Charts)

This page is a short record of what gold has sold for over time. It is part of our gold and precious metals basics library. We show a limited set of annual figures, explain how to read them, and point you to the original data sources.

Nothing here predicts where any price will go. The figures describe the past only.

What was the price of gold in past years?

The table below uses annual averages of monthly prices, in U.S. dollars per troy ounce. A troy ounce is the unit gold is priced in (see what a troy ounce is). The World Bank's Pink Sheet (dated October 2, 2026) describes its gold series as "spot average of daily rates," in US$ per troy ounce. We calculated each average from the 12 monthly figures in the open dataset described in "Where does the data come from" below. That dataset matches the Pink Sheet's published figures where we compared them: $2,388 for 2024, $3,442 for 2025, and $4,073, $4,411 and $4,319 for July, August and September 2026.

The right-hand columns adjust each year to 2025 dollars. We explain the method in the next section.

Sources: gold prices from the DataHub gold-prices monthly file (1960 onward sourced from the World Bank "Pink Sheet"; a series of spot averages of daily rates), averaged by us; CPI-U from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015 to 2025; 1960 to 2020). Real values are rounded to the nearest dollar.

A few things stand out in this table, as facts about the past:

• The average sat near $35 to $36 in 1960 and 1970, then rose to about $161 by 1975 and about $608 by 1980.
• It was lower in 1990 and 2000 than in 1980, even before adjusting for inflation.
• It was higher in 2010 and 2011 than in 2000, and lower in 2015 than in 2011.
• The 2025 average was higher than any earlier year in the table.

What were the notable highs and lows in the monthly data?

The same monthly file lets us name a few points. These are monthly averages, not the highest price traded on any single day.

• January 1980: $675 per ounce, the highest monthly figure from 1970 through 1999. The figure for May 1980 was $514.
• July 1999: $256, the lowest monthly figure between mid-1980 and the end of 2010.
• September 2011: $1,772, the highest monthly figure in 2011. The file shows $1,360 for January 2011.
• February 2026: $5,020, the highest monthly figure anywhere in the file as of October 17, 2026 (the file's last month is September 2026). It shows $4,411 for August 2026 and $4,319 for September 2026.

These show that prices can move a lot in a few months. They are not a guide to what comes next.

How do officials and markets set the price of gold?

Here are some dated, sourced points from official history, followed by how one current benchmark is set.

• Before 1934: The Federal Reserve's history says the Gold Act of 1900 set the dollar at $20.67 per ounce of gold, and that this rate held until spring 1933 (Federal Reserve History).
• 1934: The Gold Reserve Act was signed January 30, 1934. The Federal Reserve's history says individuals and institutions that turned in gold "received currency at a rate of $35 per ounce of gold," and that Section 12 authorized the president to set the dollar's gold value by proclamation. Proclamation 2072 did so on January 31, 1934, the next day. The same source says the $35 rate cut the dollar's gold value to 59% of the $20.67 rate (Federal Reserve History).
• 1971: On the evening of August 15, 1971, President Nixon closed the "gold window," so foreign governments could no longer exchange dollars for gold. Dollars had been convertible at a fixed rate of $35 an ounce (Federal Reserve History).
• Private ownership (1974 letter): In a letter dated November 13, 1974, Federal Reserve Chairman Arthur Burns referred to "the legislation permitting ownership of gold by private U.S. citizens as of December 31" (Office of the Historian). The excerpt gives no year for that date, and we did not open the law itself.

Today, one widely used reference is the LBMA Gold Price. The LBMA says it is set twice a day in auctions run by ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA), starting at 10:30 and 15:00 London time, and that it is a benchmark for unallocated gold delivered in London (LBMA).

The price you see for gold at any moment is a market price. For how that works day to day, see the spot price explained. For the forces that analysts discuss, see what drives gold prices.

What does "real" versus "nominal" price mean?

A nominal price is the plain dollar amount on the day. A real price adjusts that amount for changes in the general price level, so that years can be compared in the same buying power.

We used the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index base is 1982-84 = 100.

Method. For each year, we multiplied that year's average gold price by the 2025 annual average CPI-U (321.943) and divided by that year's annual average CPI-U. We did this in a short Python script.

For example, the 1980 average of $607.83, times 321.943, divided by 82.4, is about $2,375 in 2025 dollars.

What the real column shows:

• The 1980 average, adjusted, was about $2,375. The 2011 average, adjusted, was about $2,246.
• The 2025 annual average, $3,441.50, is above the adjusted 1980 figure when measured this way.
• The adjusted 2000 figure ($522) was far below the adjusted 1980 figure.

CPI-U is one measure of consumer prices for urban households. A different price index or base year would give different adjusted numbers. We used annual averages for both gold and the CPI, so the result does not reflect any specific month.

Where does the data come from, and what can we show?

Several organizations publish gold price history. They differ in how much you can copy.

Because the LBMA benchmark needs a licence to redistribute, we do not reproduce LBMA figures here. We show a limited set of annual points from the open dataset instead. If you need the LBMA benchmark itself, use the LBMA or World Gold Council pages above.

What does this history not tell you?

History is a record. It is not a forecast, and past performance does not indicate future results.

• It cannot tell you what comes next. A rise or fall in the past says nothing certain about the next year.
• Averages hide swings. An annual average can sit well above or below prices at the start and end of that year.
• The start and end years matter. Choosing 1980 versus 2000 as a starting point tells a very different story. Both are in the table above.
• The series is not a price you would pay or receive. It is a market price series. Costs of buying, storing and holding metal in an IRA are separate; see our guide to IRA fees.
• Different sources, different numbers. Series can differ in what they measure (daily benchmark, monthly average, annual average), so figures from two sources may not match.

Whether gold belongs in a retirement plan depends on your situation. A qualified financial or tax professional can help with that decision.

What we did not check

We want to be clear about what we could not confirm.

• We did not open the World Bank's historical monthly data file (an Excel workbook). We read the DataHub copy and its README, which says the 1960-onward figures come from the World Bank, and we compared it with the October 2026 Pink Sheet PDF for 2024, 2025 and July to September 2026 only. The Pink Sheet names no gold data provider, so we did not confirm that the series matches the LBMA benchmark. Statements about what the file shows are as of October 17, 2026.
• We could not open the LBMA historical tables, because they require a licence.
• The World Gold Council page we opened did not show numbers when we read it, so we took no figures from it.
• We did not open the 1974 law itself, and we did not confirm the details of when Americans could lawfully hold bullion.
• The BLS 1960 to 2020 values came from the 2021 historical table, and the 2015 to 2025 values from a BLS regional page showing the U.S. city average. We could not open newer national tables.

Related reading

• Gold in recessions and market crashes looks at what prices did around U.S. recessions, including periods when they fell.
• The gold-to-silver ratio explained shows how gold and silver prices compare.
• Gold and precious metals basics is the main guide to the topic.
• Central bank gold and gold supply and demand cover other background on the market.