Gold and the Great American Monetary Resets: From 1792 to Today

Gold has been at the heart of the US monetary system since the nation’s founding, evolving from a direct anchor for the dollar to a strategic reserve asset.

Though it no longer backs the dollar, gold remains a cornerstone of central bank reserves, a discreet but powerful force in global finance.

Throughout American history, monetary resets have been a recurring theme—and more often than not, they have revolved around gold because gold is money.

Understanding this history isn’t just about the past—it’s about the future. And if history is any guide, another reset may be coming sooner than most expect.

1775: Continentals and the American Revolution

Before the Revolution, gold and silver coins were the backbone of trade in the American colonies.

When war broke out, the Continental Congress lacked the authority to levy taxes, forcing them to seek an alternative way to finance the war.

In 1775, Congress began issuing "Continental Currency"—the first fiat paper money in US history. These notes, known as "Continentals," were supposed to be redeemable in gold and silver after the war, but that promise lacked credibility.

Continentals quickly became worthless amid hyperinflation. The phrase "Not worth a Continental" became synonymous with worthlessness.

By 1781, Continentals had lost over 99% of their value, and the US government effectively abandoned them, leaving holders with massive losses.

This disaster deepened distrust in fiat money and cemented the belief among the Founders that gold and silver must be the foundation of any stable monetary system.

1792: The Coinage Act and the Birth of the US Monetary System

After the disastrous failure of Continental Currency, the Coinage Act of 1792 created the first official US monetary system, ensuring stability by tying the dollar to both gold and silver.

Gold was set at $19.39 per ounce, while silver was also legal tender.

The Founders aimed to prevent another Continental-style collapse by anchoring the currency to hard money.

The First Bank of the United States (1791–1811)

The First Bank of the United States, the nation’s first central bank, was established under the leadership of Alexander Hamilton to stabilize the economy, issue a national currency backed by gold and silver, and manage federal deposits.

However, it quickly became a political flashpoint, facing fierce opposition from Thomas Jefferson and states’ rights advocates, who feared it concentrated too much financial power in the hands of the federal government.

When the bank’s 20-year charter expired in 1811, Congress refused to renew it.

The Second Bank of the United States (1816–1836)

In the wake of the financial chaos following the War of 1812, the US established another central bank, the Second Bank of the United States, in 1816.

Like its predecessor, it was designed to regulate credit, stabilize the currency, and hold federal deposits.

However, it quickly became a political lightning rod, particularly under President Andrew Jackson, who saw it as a corrupt institution that served elite interests at the expense of ordinary Americans.

Jackson vetoed its recharter in 1832, waged a successful campaign against it, and ultimately dismantled the bank in 1836.

1834: First Major Price Change ($20.67 per Ounce)

The Coinage Act of 1834 officially raised the gold price to $20.67 per ounce, effectively devaluing the US dollar (since more dollars were now needed to buy an ounce of gold).

The $20.67 per ounce gold price remained unchanged for nearly a century until FDR’s intervention in 1933.

1862: Lincoln’s Greenbacks – The Civil War Fiat Experiment

During the War Between the States (1861–1865), President Abraham Lincoln introduced a fiat paper currency known as "Greenbacks" to finance the war effort. This marked a major departure from the gold and silver-based system that had defined US money.

The war demanded enormous financial resources, but the government lacked sufficient gold and silver reserves to cover costs. Traditional borrowing through bond sales proved insufficient, and policymakers were reluctant to impose heavy taxation on the public. In response, Congress passed the Legal Tender Act of 1862, authorizing the issuance of paper money not backed by gold or silver—these notes became known as "Greenbacks" due to their distinctive color.

Although Greenbacks allowed the government to fund the war, they were not backed by hard assets, leading to debasement. After the war, the US took steps to restore confidence in the monetary system and return to a gold-backed standard.

In 1869, the Public Credit Act was passed, pledging that Greenbacks would eventually be redeemable in gold, reassuring creditors. This was followed by the Specie Payment Resumption Act of 1875, which mandated that by 1879, Greenbacks would once again be convertible into gold. By then, the US had reduced the number of Greenbacks in circulation, successfully returning to a gold-based monetary system and ending their fiat status.

Although Greenbacks were a temporary fiat currency, their detachment from gold foreshadowed future monetary shifts.

1913: The Federal Reserve Act

The creation of the Federal Reserve—the nation’s third central bank—marked a significant shift toward centralized control over the US monetary system.

While gold remained part of the system, the Federal Reserve’s ability to expand credit beyond physical gold reserves weakened gold’s direct role in the monetary system. This shift set the stage for future monetary interventions, inflationary policies, and the eventual abandonment of gold convertibility in 1971.

1933: FDR’s Gold Confiscation (Executive Order 6102)

In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) issued Executive Order 6102, forcing Americans to turn in their gold coins and bullion to the US Treasury. This move was intended to give the government greater control over the money supply and combat deflation during the Great Depression.

Citizens were paid $20.67 per ounce for their gold, but shortly after, the government revalued gold at $35 per ounce, effectively devaluing the dollar by 41%. The change allowed the government to print more dollars without increasing gold reserves.

In a national radio address on October 22, 1933, Roosevelt justified the decision, stating:

"The United States must take firmly in its own hands the control of the value of our dollar."

Gold ownership was banned for private citizens until 1974, and much of the nation’s gold was centralized in Fort Knox. This marked a decisive step in the government’s tightening control over the monetary system.

1944: The Bretton Woods Agreement – The Dollar Becomes the Global Reserve Currency

It’s been rightly said that "he who holds the gold makes the rules."

After World War 2, the US had the largest gold reserves in the world by far. Along with winning the war, this let the US reconstruct the global monetary system around the dollar.

The new system, created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, tied the currencies of virtually every country in the world to the US dollar through a fixed exchange rate. It also tied the US dollar to gold at a fixed rate of $35 per ounce.

However, the Bretton Woods Agreement was doomed to fail.

Runaway spending on warfare and welfare eventually caused the US government to print more dollars than it could back with gold at the promised $35 price.

1971: Nixon Ends Gold Convertibility ("Nixon Shock")

By the late 1960s, the number of dollars circulating had drastically increased relative to the amount of gold backing them. This encouraged foreign countries to exchange their dollars for gold, draining the US gold supply at an alarming rate.

As a result, the US gold supply dropped by more than half, from 574 million troy ounces at the end of World War II to around 261 million troy ounces in 1971.

The situation pressured the US government to make a drastic decision.

It could do nothing and watch its gold holdings evaporate, which would mean losing enormous financial and geopolitical power. Or it could default on its promise to redeem the dollar for gold.

On Sunday night, August 15, 1971, President Nixon interrupted the scheduled TV programs and made a surprise announcement to the nation—and the world.

Nixon said he was temporarily suspending the dollar’s convertibility into gold.

The most obvious lie was Nixon’s claim that the suspension would only be "temporary." It’s still in place today.

Another egregious lie was that his move was necessary to protect Americans from international speculators. Instead, money printing to finance out-of-control government spending was the real problem.

Lastly, Nixon said removing the link to gold would stabilize the dollar. However, even by the government’s own rigged inflation statistics, which understate reality, the US dollar has lost over 87% of its purchasing power since 1971.

The truth is that Nixon defaulted on the US government’s promise to redeem the dollar for gold at $35 an ounce. Since then, the dollar has been a pure fiat currency with no backing.

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1972 – The Smithsonian Agreement Adjusts the Gold Price to $38

After the Nixon Shock, world leaders met in December 1971 to try and stabilize the international monetary system. The Smithsonian Agreement attempted to:

• Raise the official gold price from $35 to $38 per ounce, effectively devaluing the dollar by 8.5%.

• Allow major currencies to fluctuate within a 2.25% band instead of being strictly fixed.

However, confidence in the dollar continued to erode, and the agreement collapsed by 1973, paving the way for the modern floating exchange rate system, where gold would trade freely on the open market.

1973: The US Dollar and Gold Officially Float

After multiple attempts to stabilize exchange rates—including the Smithsonian Agreement (1971)—major currencies transitioned to a free-floating system in early 1973, allowing exchange rates to fluctuate based on market forces.

As the US dollar continued to weaken, another official devaluation occurred in February 1973, raising the official gold price from $38 to $42.22 per ounce. This represented a total devaluation of 20.7% compared to the original $35 peg established under Bretton Woods.

However, despite these adjustments, it became clear that the US could no longer control gold’s value in global markets.

By March 1973, the Smithsonian Agreement collapsed, and major currencies—including the US dollar—shifted to a fully floating exchange rate system. This marked the end of government-controlled gold pricing as the US stopped setting an official price. Gold began trading freely on the open market, and its price was determined by supply and demand rather than government decree.

While August 15, 1971, marked the end of gold convertibility under the Nixon Shock, the US still attempted to maintain an official gold price under the Smithsonian Agreement. However, this system ultimately failed.

Gold officially began trading freely in March 1973, when the floating exchange rate system was adopted, allowing the market to set gold’s value independently for the first time since the nation’s founding.

Below is a chart depicting the 181-year history of gold’s official role in the US monetary system—from the Coinage Act of 1792 to 1973.

Each gold price adjustment marks a rare but significant event, reflecting dollar devaluations and major monetary resets that reshaped the financial system.

The Rise of Gold as a Financial Asset (1973–Present)

Before the adoption of a fiat currency standard after the end of Bretton Woods, gold had been mankind’s most enduring form of money—for over 5,000 years—because of unique characteristics that made it best suited to store and exchange value.

Gold is durable, divisible, consistent, convenient, scarce, and most importantly, the "hardest" of all physical commodities.

In other words, gold is the one physical commodity that is the "hardest to produce" (relative to existing stockpiles) and, therefore, the most resistant to debasement.

Gold is indestructible, and its stockpiles have built up over thousands of years. That’s a big reason why the growth of new gold supply—typically 1-2% per year—is insignificant.

In other words, nobody can arbitrarily inflate the supply.

That makes gold an excellent store of value and gives the yellow metal its superior monetary properties.

People in every country of the world value gold. Its worth doesn’t depend on any government or any counterparty at all. Gold has always been an inherently international and politically neutral asset. This is why different civilizations around the world have used gold as money for millennia.

Yet, most people don’t understand this.

They might say the paper dollars in their wallets and the digital dollars in their bank accounts are money, not gold. But that’s only been the case since 1971, a drop in the bucket by historical terms.

The collapse of the Bretton Woods system in 1971 was a turning point, severing gold’s link to the dollar and transforming it from a fixed monetary anchor into a freely traded financial asset. Even though it is no longer legal tender, gold has retained its status as a store of value, trusted by governments, central banks, and investors worldwide. Its role as a hedge against inflation, currency devaluation, and economic instability has only strengthened over time.

Despite abandoning the gold standard, central banks continue to hold and accumulate gold, recognizing its importance as a financial asset.

This is what makes gold fundamentally different from other commodities like wheat, copper, or oil. While those goods are consumed, gold is primarily held as a financial asset, making its price a critical indicator of global economic stability, currency strength, and monetary policy credibility.

The price of gold is a barometer of the fiat currency system itself. It is a real-time measure of confidence (or lack thereof) in the monetary system because it is a free market alternative to government-issued money.

Throughout history, every major monetary reset in the United States has revolved around gold—from the Coinage Act of 1792, to FDR’s gold confiscation in 1933, to the collapse of Bretton Woods in 1971. Each time, the dollar was devalued, and gold played a central role in reshaping the financial system.

This is no coincidence—gold has been mankind's most enduring form of money for thousands of years, making it only natural that it would play a central role in any major monetary shift.

Today, the conditions are ripe for a monetary reset in the US, and history leaves little doubt—gold will once again be at the center of it. If past resets are any indication, a significant dollar devaluation is not just possible, but practically inevitable.

Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, all but confirmed that a monetary reset is imminent when he recently stated:

"We're in the midst of a great realignment, a Bretton Woods realignment in terms of global policy, global trade... I'd like to be part of it, either on the inside or the outside."

The stage is set. History shows every major US monetary reset has revolved around gold—and 2025 could be next. With debt exploding, the dollar overvalued, and gold flowing quietly into US vaults, the writing is on the wall.

What happens next could change everything.

Discover what Trump’s 2025 reset could look like—and how to position yourself to profit from the coming dollar devaluation.