What $100 in 2017 was worth — measured in gold

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

68.9%

of the US dollar's value, gone — measured in gold, since 2017.
It now takes 3.2× more dollars to buy the same ounce.

In 2017, $100 bought 0.08 oz of gold at $1,258/oz. Held as metal, that same money is worth $321 at today's gold price of $4,043/oz (spot as of 2026-08-02).

Same $100. Three rulers.

Measure	$100 from 2017, today	Multiple
Official story — CPI-U (BLS)	$137	1.4×
Money created — M2 money supply	$169	1.7×
In gold — honest weight, valued today	$321	3.2×

The gap between 1.4× (CPI) and 1.7× (M2) is official inflation understating the money actually created. The gap between 1.7× and 3.2× (gold) is the flight to hard money — gold outrunning even the printing.

2017 in the fiat story

QE became permanent policy. The one attempt to reverse it ended in the December 2018 market break and the September 2019 repo blowup — the system had become structurally dependent on new money.

Try your own numbers

The In Gold calculator runs any amount and any year — USD from 1913, or see 2017 in AUD.

← $100 in 2016 $100 in 2018 →

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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