Undisputed All-Time Record High for Gold

Gold has broken record after record in 2025—more than 30 new highs—but not until September 11 did the precious metal’s price hit an undisputed all-time record. That’s because gold broke its inflation-adjusted record that day, rising to $3,674 an ounce.

Forty-five years earlier, on January 21, 1980, gold hit $850, which, accounting for inflation over those four-and-one-half decades, is equivalent to $3,590.

An early September sprint took gold to the all-time peak. But the precious metal didn’t stop there, as only one week later the spot price of gold—the real-time market price in New York—rose above $3,7000 to yet another all-time high, putting its gains for 2025 at an impressive 34 percent.

In 1980, the U.S. dollar was sinking in value against other major currencies, inflation was rising, and the economy was tumbling into a severe recession. This year, the dollar once again has steadily lost value, inflation is ticking up, and the economy is showing signs of weakness. Moreover, President Trump is threatening to control the Federal Reserve, raising worries about the independence of the central bank and its ability to combat inflation, and global central banks are aggressively buying gold.  

The precious metal was the go-to safe haven investment during the hyperinflation era of the late 1970s. Once again, amid waning confidence in the U.S. dollar, new inflation worries, and extreme geopolitical uncertainty, gold is the undisputed safe haven for global investors.