See what a gold or silver investment from any year since 1926 would be worth today, using historical annual average prices and today’s live spot price.
1926 average gold price: $20.67/oz
Enter an amount to see today’s value.
We divide your investment amount by that year’s average gold or silver price to estimate how many ounces you could have bought, then multiply by today’s spot price. The result ignores dealer premiums, storage costs, and taxes — treat it as a directional estimate, not an exact historical return.
Data quality varies by era. From 1970 onward, both metals use LBMA annual average prices. Gold from 1926–1969 uses the actual legally fixed US gold price of that time ($20.67/oz until 1934, then $35/oz under the Gold Reserve Act) — these are exact, not estimates. Silver before 1970 is less precise: it blends US Treasury purchase-price records with published market data, since silver wasn’t on a clean fixed standard the way gold was — years marked “approximate” above should be read as directional.
Gold averaged about $36/oz in 1970. Enter $1,000 and select 1970 above to see the current value using today's live gold price — it updates automatically as spot prices move.
For 1970 onward, yes — LBMA annual averages. Gold before 1970 is also exact, since the US gold price was fixed by law during that era. Silver before 1970 is the least precise part of the dataset, blending Treasury purchase-price records with market data.
The US dollar was pegged to gold at a legally set rate — $20.67/oz from 1900, then $35/oz from 1934 — until President Nixon ended dollar-to-gold convertibility in August 1971, after which gold began trading freely on the open market.
No — this shows nominal dollar value, not inflation-adjusted (real) return. A $1,000 investment growing to $5,000 nominally is a smaller gain in real purchasing power once inflation over that period is factored in.