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GOLD EXCHANGE

GOLD EXCHANGE was organized in New York City in 1862. Wall Street brokers had bought and sold gold in exchange for greenbacks since the first of that year, but early makeshift arrangements proved inadequate. Upon establishing the exchange, the founding brokers provided that any respectable citizen could become a member by paying $100 a year to defray expenses, and 450 men joined. At first, gold was actually delivered, but after 1863, traders exchanged Treasury Department certificates of deposit. When business increased significantly, sales and purchases were cleared daily through the Gold Exchange Bank. The gold exchange was a commercial necessity and served a useful purpose until the United States resumed gold redemption at the beginning of 1879.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Shapiro, Eli, Ezra Solomon, and William L. White. Money and Banking. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968.

Frederick A. Bradford/C. W.

See also Gold Standard; Greenbacks; Treasury, Department of the.