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Gold Price in 1978

In 1978, the price of gold averaged $193 per troy ounce, up 30.4% from the year before. This page covers the 1978 average, high, low, and year-end close, the events that moved the market, and what that gold would be worth in today's dollars.

1978 Average

$193

LBMA annual average, USD/oz

Change vs 1977

+30.4%

from $148 in 1977

1978 High

$249

from daily trading data

1978 Low

$166

from daily trading data

Year-End Close

$229

last trading day of 1978

What happened to the gold price in 1978

Gold averaged $193 per troy ounce in 1978, climbing 30.4% from the $148 average of 1977. Daily trading data shows gold moved between a low of $166 and a high of $249 during the year, ending 1978 at $229. The defining story of 1978: Second oil crisis; Iran revolution.

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 1978 average of $193 equals about $954 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 1978?
Gold averaged $193 per troy ounce in 1978, based on LBMA annual average data. Daily prices ranged from a low of $166 to a high of $249, and the year closed at $229. That average was up 30.4% from $148 in 1977.
What is a 1978 gold price worth in today's dollars?
Adjusted with the US Consumer Price Index, gold's 1978 average of $193 works out to roughly $954 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 1978?
The defining story of 1978: Second oil crisis; Iran revolution. Against that backdrop, the annual average climbed 30.4%, from $148 in 1977 to $193.

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.