During this period gold lagged behind the handgun.

Gold was set at $20.67 an ounce where it stayed until 1934 when President Franklin Roosevelt devalued the dollar to 1/35 of an ounce of gold. President Grant signed it into law in February of that year. In 1873, Congress put the United States on the gold standard with the Fourth Coinage Act, which de-monetized silver and made gold the only metal by which to fix currency. Gold was in the midst of one of its many upheavals when the Peacemaker arrived. Gold Double Eagle $20 coins from that year can be found on line for $1500 to $5000 depending on condition about the same price as Colt SAA's of similar age and condition. So your $20 gold piece spent on this gun in 1873 would have returned 874900%. A recent check of found scores of listings at a wide variety of prices from $1,699 at the bottom to $175,000 asked for a Colt 'Pinch Frame' called 'the Holy Grail of single action collecting.' This gun carries the serial number 58. Today an ounce of gold is about $1,090 and a new Colt SAA can be special ordered from Colt's custom shop for about $1,500.Īs a collector's item the Colt fares even better. The $20 Double Eagle of 1873 contained 0.9675 ounces of pure gold. The complete kit with a holster and some ammunition could be covered by a $20 gold piece.

.45 calibre revolver gold