What $100 in 1948 was worth — measured in gold

The price of gold didn't get more expensive. The value of the US dollar fell.

99.1%

of the US dollar's value, gone — measured in gold, since 1948.
It now takes 116× more dollars to buy the same ounce.

In 1948, $100 bought 2.86 oz of gold at $35.00/oz. Held as metal, that same money is worth $11,552 at today's gold price of $4,043/oz (spot as of 2026-08-02).

Same $100. Three rulers.

Measure	$100 from 1948, today	Multiple
Official story — CPI-U (BLS)	$1,396	14.0×
In gold — honest weight, valued today	$11,552	116×

The gap between 14.0× (CPI) and 116× (gold) is the distance between the official story and the honest ruler. (M2 data begins later in the record.)

1948 in the fiat story

Under Bretton Woods the dollar was "as good as gold" — but only foreign central banks could actually redeem it. Americans still could not legally own bullion. The M2 money-supply series begins in 1959, which is why the money-created column appears from that year onward.

Try your own numbers

The In Gold calculator runs any amount and any year — USD from 1913.

← $100 in 1947 $100 in 1949 →

Method. Gold weight = amount ÷ the gold price of that year; "today" figures rebase the same amount by CPI, money supply, and gold spot. Deterministic — no estimates, no models, no AI in the number path. Annual averages. Sources: FRED CPIAUCNS, FRED M2SL, MeasuringWorth, GoldAPI live spot. Not financial advice. In Gold — the calculator · API
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