History of Gold in the United States

April 2, 1792. Congress created a national mint and authorized coins in gold, silver and copper, including the gold eagle, half eagle and quarter eagle.

March 3, 1835. Congress set up branch mints at New Orleans, Charlotte (North Carolina) and Dahlonega (Georgia).

January 24, 1848. James W. Marshall found gold while building a sawmill for John Sutter on the American River near Coloma, California. Many people doubted the news at first.

The rush took off after President Polk endorsed the find in December 1848. Nearly 100,000 people reached California in 1849, and over 300,000 came during the whole rush, which peaked in 1852.

July 3, 1852. Congress approved a branch mint in California to turn gold rush metal into coins. It became the San Francisco Mint.

Congress made gold the only standard for US currency. The Gold Act of 1900 fixed the dollar at $20.67 per ounce of gold, a rate that lasted until spring 1933.

April 5, 1933. President Roosevelt banned the hoarding of gold and required people to hand in gold coins (Executive Order 6102). The Mint stopped making gold coins.

June 5, 1933. A resolution of Congress cancelled clauses in public and private contracts that promised payment in gold.

January 30, 1934. Roosevelt signed the Gold Reserve Act, and a proclamation the next day set gold at $35 an ounce. That cut the dollar's gold value to 59% of its old level.

January 13, 1937. The first shipment of gold arrived at the new US Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

At a meeting of 44 countries in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, other currencies were tied to the dollar and the dollar was tied to gold at $35 an ounce.

August 15, 1971. In a televised address, President Nixon ended the conversion of dollars into gold for foreign governments, cutting the last link between the dollar and gold.

President Ford signed a law that once again let US citizens own and trade gold, ending the restrictions that began in 1933.

September 8, 1986. The US Mint struck the first American Eagle gold bullion coin, launching its bullion coin program for investors.

The USGS estimated that gold averaged about $3,300 an ounce in 2025, a record yearly average and about 38% higher than in 2024. US mines produced about 160 tonnes, valued near $17 billion.

Charles Lewis Tiffany co-founded a stationery and fancy-goods store in 1837. In 1853 it became Tiffany & Co., later one of the best-known American jewelers.

This federal law sets rules for quality marks on gold and silver jewelry. Gold may be no more than 3 parts per thousand below its karat mark (7 with solder), and sterling must be at least 925 parts per thousand silver.

November 23, 1910. Cartier bought the Hope Diamond and brought it to the US, and in 1912 Pierre Cartier sold it to Ned and Evalyn Walsh McLean.

New York jeweler Harry Winston bought the Hope Diamond together with Evalyn Walsh McLean's jewelry collection after her death.

November 10, 1958. Harry Winston donated the 45.52-carat Hope Diamond, which was sent by registered mail in a plain brown package. It now draws millions of visitors a year.

In July 2018 the FTC dropped the rule that gold below 10 karat could not be called karat gold, provided the karat is shown, and required disclosure of rhodium plating.