Gold Price History · The Free-Float Era

2019

The Breakout

A dovish Fed pivot sent gold surging to a six-year high, launching the modern bull market in earnest.

Average price
$1,393/oz
In 2025 dollars
$1,755/oz
Change on the year
+9.8%
After inflation
+7.9%

2019 in context · real value, 1999–2025

200020102020 $1,755
Inflation-adjusted to 2025 dollars. See all 768 years →

2019 was the year gold woke up. As the Federal Reserve abruptly reversed course and began cutting interest rates, gold broke decisively above the range that had contained it since 2013, surging to a six-year high. Falling real yields, trade-war anxiety, and a global pivot toward easier money all aligned. The breakout set the stage for the 2020 pandemic record and the era of all-time highs that followed.

Key events of 2019

  1. 2019-07-31

    The Fed cuts

    The Federal Reserve cuts rates for the first time since 2008; gold breaks out to a six-year high.

What would $10,000 of gold in 2019 be worth today?

Run the numbers across gold, stocks, housing, and bonds — adjusted for inflation.

Calculate 2019 →

How gold did in 2019

Value at year-end of $10,000 invested on 1 January 2019.

Gold
$10,981 +9.8%
S&P 500 (total return)
$13,121 +31.2%
US housing
$10,328 +3.3%
Inflation (CPI)
$10,181 +1.8%

Annual-average basis. Gold: Officer & Williamson; S&P 500 & Treasuries: Damodaran (NYU); housing: Shiller; CPI: BLS. Methodology →

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 →