At the dawn of the 20th century, gold was not an investment — it was the literal definition of money. On 14 March 1900, the Gold Standard Act made it official US law: the dollar was defined as 25.8 grains of gold, nine-tenths fine, fixing gold at $20.67 an ounce and ending decades of bitter "gold versus silver" politics.
Nearly the entire trading world was now on gold, and exchange rates were simply conversions between different weights of the same metal. The price would not move for a generation. To understand why this stability was the bedrock of the era — and why its later collapse mattered so much — see The Gold Standard & Bretton Woods.
Key events of 1900
- 1900-03-14
Gold Standard Act
The US dollar is legally defined in gold alone at $20.67/oz, ending the bimetallism debate.