Gold Price in 1973

In 1973, the price of gold averaged $97 per troy ounce, up 67.2% from the year before. This page covers the 1973 average, high, low, and year-end close, the events that moved the market, and what that gold would be worth in today's dollars.

1973 Average

$97

LBMA annual average, USD/oz

Change vs 1972

+67.2%

from $58 in 1972

1973 High

$126

from daily trading data

1973 Low

$64

from daily trading data

Year-End Close

$112

last trading day of 1973

What happened to the gold price in 1973

Gold averaged $97 per troy ounce in 1973, surging 67.2% from the $58 average of 1972. Annual moves of that size are rare and put 1973 among the most explosive years in the metal's modern history. Daily trading data shows gold moved between a low of $64 and a high of $126 during the year, ending 1973 at $112. The defining story of 1973: Oil crisis begins; Bretton Woods collapses.

The 1970s were gold's first decade of free trading. After President Nixon ended the dollar's convertibility to gold in August 1971, runaway inflation, two oil shocks, and Cold War tensions carried the metal from $35 toward its January 1980 peak of $850 per ounce.

Adjusted for inflation, gold's 1973 average of $97 equals about $704 in today's dollars. The conversion uses US Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U annual averages, so treat it as a close approximation rather than an exact figure.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the price of gold in 1973?

Gold averaged $97 per troy ounce in 1973, based on LBMA annual average data. Daily prices ranged from a low of $64 to a high of $126, and the year closed at $112. That average was up 67.2% from $58 in 1972.

What is a 1973 gold price worth in today's dollars?

Adjusted with the US Consumer Price Index, gold's 1973 average of $97 works out to roughly $704 in today's dollars, using 2025 as the CPI base year. The conversion uses BLS CPI-U annual averages, so treat it as a close approximation rather than an exact figure.

What moved the gold price in 1973?

The defining story of 1973: Oil crisis begins; Bretton Woods collapses. Against that backdrop, the annual average climbed 67.2%, from $58 in 1972 to $97.

Annual averages are LBMA prices per troy ounce in US dollars. Where shown, the yearly high, low, and close come from MetalCharts daily historical data and may differ slightly from figures published elsewhere. Inflation adjustments use BLS CPI-U annual averages.