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Events/Law or policy · 1934

Gold Reserve Act signed

Law or policy, 1934-01-30, United States.

What happened

President Roosevelt signed the Gold Reserve Act on 30 January 1934. People and institutions handed in gold and were paid at 35 dollars an ounce, which cut the dollar's gold value to 59 percent of the 20.67 dollar rate set in 1900.1,2

Why it matters

It set the 35 dollar price that Bretton Woods later used as the dollar anchor.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Harry Oppenheimer born

    Harry Oppenheimer born (date from Wikidata).3

  2. Anglo American founded

    Anglo American founded.4

  3. Rand Rebellion begins

    An uprising on the Witwatersrand began on 28 December 1921 and ran into 1922 (dates from Wikidata).5,6

  4. Gold Reserve Act signed

    It set the 35 dollar price that Bretton Woods later used as the dollar anchor.1,2

  5. Dalstroi gold output peaks at 80 tonnes

    Output fell to 75.7 t in 1941, 74.4 t in 1942, 70.1 t in 1943 and 70.5 t in 1944.7,8

  6. Bretton Woods conference

    Bretton Woods conference.9

  7. US Vice President Wallace visits the Kolyma gold camps

    The managers hid that gold was mined mainly by prisoners and misstated output.7,8

  8. African mine workers' strike on the Witwatersrand

    The strike was crushed, but SAHO says it had lasting effects on African trade unionism and politics.10,11,12

Open the full timeline

Where next

Events

Led toBretton Woods conferenceThe 35 dollar gold price set in 1934 anchored the Bretton Woods system of 1944.1

Sources

  1. Gold Reserve Act of 1934 Federal Reserve History
  2. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. Wikidata item Q1586536 (Harry Oppenheimer)
  4. Wikidata item Q541451 (Anglo American founded)
  5. Wikidata item Q3070782 (Rand Rebellion)
  6. Wikidata item Q34647 (Johannesburg)
  7. Three Days in Auschwitz without Gas Chambers: Henry A. Wallace Visit to Magadan in 1944 Wilson Center
  8. Wikidata item Q7968 (Magadan)
  9. Wikidata item Q188532 (Bretton Woods conference)
  10. 1946 African Mineworkers Strike South African History Online
  11. The African Mine Workers strike of 1946 South African History Online
  12. Witwatersrand (item Q587808), coordinate location P625 Wikidata

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0; Underground mining equipment by Kaupo Kikkas, CC BY-SA 4.0. Pictures: Gold prospectors constructing a long box with a filter for panning gold. Process print after H.M. Paget, 1899., Henry Marriott Paget (Public Domain Mark 1.0); Pangkalpinang. Mijn 3b. Een reeks koelies bezig met het transporteeren van grond, Europeana (Public Domain Mark 1.0).