What $100 in 1989 was worth — measured in gold

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

90.6%

of the US dollar's value, gone — measured in gold, since 1989.
It now takes 10.6× more dollars to buy the same ounce.

In 1989, $100 bought 0.26 oz of gold at $381/oz. Held as metal, that same money is worth $1,061 at today's gold price of $4,043/oz (spot as of 2026-08-02).

Same $100. Three rulers.

Measure	$100 from 1989, today	Multiple
Official story — CPI-U (BLS)	$270	2.7×
Money created — M2 money supply	$755	7.5×
In gold — honest weight, valued today	$1,061	10.6×

The gap between 2.7× (CPI) and 7.5× (M2) is official inflation understating the money actually created. The gap between 7.5× and 10.6× (gold) is the flight to hard money — gold outrunning even the printing.

1989 in the fiat story

The Volcker disinflation and the long bull market in paper: gold ground down for two decades to $252 by 1999, when the Bank of England sold half its reserves at the bottom — remembered ever since as Brown's Bottom. Debasement never stopped; it just compounded quietly while nobody watched the ruler.

Try your own numbers

The In Gold calculator runs any amount and any year — USD from 1913, or see 1989 in AUD.

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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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