Highest Price of Gold: Record-Breaking Prices in 2024 & Historical Analysis

Originally posted October 18, 2020.
Updated July 10, 2024.

Gold has been used as currency for pretty much as long as civilizations have existed (more or less). Though the gold standard — where the standard economic unit (dollar for us here in the US) of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold — has been abandoned for quite a while now, many countries still hold large reserves of gold.

Just the fact that countries have abandoned using the gold standard does not mean that gold is valued any less. It may not be pegged to currency anymore, but it’s considered a safe haven investment, especially as we witness the highest price of gold in history being reached this year, in 2024.

Gold prices hit an all-time high in May 2024

2024 Update: Gold hit a new all-time high of $2,426.39/ounce on May 18, 2024. We’ll keep the article updated as gold prices continue to push higher. As of May 30th, 2024, the current price of gold of $2335 is about $90 lower than the all-time high. Prices have been more volatile lately due to political and economic influences.

Gold as a precious metal is still every bit as valuable as it has always been, with its prices being affected by factors such as decisions of central banks on interest rates and inflation, and even the exchange rate. Lower interest rates and a higher inflation both tend to make gold more expensive, and any weakness in the US dollar will also cause the gold price to rise. The opposite is also true.

And since interest rates, inflation, and exchange rates are going through a constant flux, it makes sense that gold prices do, as well.

The history of gold prices in the U.S.

Take a look at the following graph: Inflation Adjusted Gold Prices

As the above gold prices adjusted for inflation graph illustrates, gold has been priced as low as $300s and as high as $2,808 USD per troy ounce — adjusted for inflation in 2019.

If you’re curious about what happened in 1980, it had a lot to do with international tensions and poor economic conditions. Strong oil prices, Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, and the impact of the Iranian revolution all factored into investors’ move into gold, making its price shoot up to $850 USD per troy ounce (nominal USD).

Gold prices also hit an all-time low of $251.70 USD in August 1999, due to concerns about central banks reducing gold bullion reserves and mining companies selling gold in forward markets to protect against prices that had been falling over the past few years. It’s also at the end of an economic expansion cycle where investors’ appetite for risk increased, leaving fewer assets in safe haven investments.

But you’ll notice from the graph that post-2000, the price of gold has started back on an upward trend. The price of gold has stayed well above the $1,000 line since around 2009.

Let’s take a closer look at the gold prices trend chart:

While the price of gold dipped between mid-2013 to mid-2019 (after hitting all-time highs in 2011) — with the lowest being $1,066.80 USD per troy ounce in 2016 — it has generally managed to stay above the $1,100.

In 2024, we’ve seen a significant upswing in the price of gold. The highest price of gold in history was $2,426.39 USD per troy ounce, achieved on the 18th of May, 2024. Compared to the price of gold over the last decade, 2020 has generally proven to be a great year for gold.

How to start selling gold

With prices reaching this all-time high, now may be a great opportunity to sell broken, used, and unloved gold that is collecting dust. Whether it’s 10K gold (often found in jewelry) or 24K gold (typically gold coins and bullion meant for investment) or anything in between, Express Gold Cash buys it all.

And we aren’t stingy either. Whereas many other gold buyers pay as little as 25% of the value of your gold, Express Gold Cash pays up to 90% of the value of gold bullion and up to 85% of the refined value of gold jewelry. In fact, you can always check what we pay so you can estimate the payout you’ll receive for your gold before even sending us the gold.

By selling now, you can take advantage of the highest price of gold. Request your free cash for gold kit now to get started!