Gold has served as the most important monetary standard throughout history. It is measured in troy ounces and the price of gold is typically stated in terms of the cost of one ounce. One ounce is equivalent to 31.1 grams or .07 pounds.

Historically, the United States has fixed the price of gold. The price of an ounce of gold was fixed at $20.67 for many decades until 1934 at which point the price was raised to $35.00. In 1968 a two-tiered pricing structure was established, and by 1975 the price of gold was allowed to fluctuate. In January of 1980 the price of gold reached its peak, and by the year 2000 the price dropped to $272.

Carat is the term used to specify the purity of gold. 24 carats refers to pure gold.

To give you an idea of the historical value of gold, here is a chart that shows the closing price of an ounce of gold on the New York Exchange for every five year period since 1800.

year	value of one ounce of gold
2000	$272
1995	$386
1990	$424
1985	$354
1980	$641
1975	$151
1970	$38
1965	$36
1960	$37
1955	$35
1950	$40
1945	$37
1940	$35
1935	$35
1930	$21
1925	$21
1920	$21
1915	$21
1910	$21
1905	$21
1900	$21
1895	$21
1890	$21
1885	$21
1880	$21
1875	$23
1870	$23
1865	$30
1860	$21
1855	$21
1850	$21
1845	$21
1840	$21
1835	$19
1830	$19
1825	$19
1820	$22
1815	$22
1810	$19
1805	$19
1800	$19