The end of the First World War brought a sharp, brutal deflation in 1920–21. Prices collapsed, unemployment surged, and the still-functioning gold standard offered no escape valve: under gold discipline, adjustment came through falling wages and prices rather than monetary easing. The downturn was severe but short. It stands as a late demonstration of how the classical gold standard actually worked — and why governments would prove unwilling to accept its discipline once the Depression struck a decade later.
Gold Price History · Interwar Chaos
1920
The Forgotten Depression
A violent post-war deflation gripped the economy — and the gold standard delivered its harsh medicine.
- Average price
- $21/oz
- In 2025 dollars
- $332/oz
- Change on the year
- +0.0%
- After inflation
- −13.7%
1920 in context · real value, 1900–1940
What would $10,000 of gold be worth today?
Our five-asset comparison begins in 1928, the first year with continuous data for every asset — run the numbers from there.
Calculate from 1928 →Related years
Sources. Gold price: Officer & Williamson, The Price of Gold, 1257–Present (annual average); inflation adjustment by US CPI (BLS / Officer & Williamson). Asset comparison from the calculator dataset. Figures are annual averages. Full methodology →