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Gold’s legendary blow-off top: it hit an all-time high of $850 in January 1980 amid soaring inflation, then crashed — a peak that stood for 28 years.
Monthly path for 1980, anchored to the real open ($ 559.00), the high in January, the low in March, and the close ($ 590.00). The dashed line marks the yearly average; intra-year movement between anchor points is illustrative.
1980 produced the most famous spike in gold’s history. A toxic brew of double-digit inflation, the Iran hostage crisis, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan sent investors into a buying frenzy, and on January 21 gold touched an intraday all-time high of $850 per ounce — a level that, in nominal terms, would not be surpassed for 28 years.
The mania was unsustainable. As Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker drove interest rates to punishing highs to break inflation, gold collapsed, halving toward $480 by spring before stabilising near $590. The January peak became a generational high-water mark and the starting point of a 20-year bear market.
Gold spiked to an all-time high of $850 per ounce on January 21, 1980.
Runaway inflation, the Iran hostage crisis, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan drove panic buying.
Fed Chairman Paul Volcker’s sky-high interest rates then crushed the rally.
Gold collapsed toward $480 by spring before stabilising near $590.
Gold hit an all-time high of $850 per troy ounce on January 21, 1980 — a nominal record that stood until 2008.
Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker’s aggressive interest-rate hikes to fight inflation crushed the speculative mania, halving gold toward $480 by spring.
Gold's 1980 high was about $ 850.00 per troy ounce, reached in January.
The average gold price in 1980 was roughly $ 615.00 per troy ounce — it opened near $ 559.00 and closed around $ 590.00.
Gold rose about 15.3% over 1980, between a low of $ 481.00 and a high of $ 850.00.
Historical figures are approximate annual values shown for educational analysis and may differ from other sources. This is not financial advice — see our disclaimer.