Here are some key dates in gold's trading history since the early 1970s:
August 1971 – US president Richard Nixon takes the dollar off the gold standard, which had been in place with minor modifications since the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 and fixed the conversion rate for one Troy ounce of gold at $35.
August 1972 – The US devalues the dollar to $38 an ounce of gold.
January 1980 – Gold hits a record high of $850 an ounce, as investors pile into bullion prompted by high inflation due to strong oil prices, the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and the impact of the Iranian revolution.
August 1999 – Gold falls to a low of $251.70 on worries about central banks reducing their gold reserves and mining companies selling gold in forward markets to protect against falling prices.
October 1999 – Gold reaches a two-year high at $338 following an agreement to limit gold sales by 15 European central banks.
February 2003 – Gold soars on safe-haven buying in the run-up to war with Iraq.
December 2003 – January 2004 gold breaks $400, reaching levels last traded in 1988. Investors increasingly buy gold as risk insurance for portfolios.
November 2005 – Spot gold breaches $500 for the first time since December 1987, when it hit $502.97.
12 May 2006 – Gold prices peak at $730 an ounce with investors pouring money into commodities on a weak dollar, firm oil prices and political tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
14 June 2006 – Gold plummets to $543 from its 26-year peak after investors and speculators sell out of commodity positions.
2 January 2008 – Spot gold breaks above $850.
13 March 2008 – The benchmark gold contract trades over $1,000 for the first time in the US futures market.
17 March 2008 – Spot gold hits an all-time high of $1,030.80 an ounce.
17 September 2008 – Spot gold jumps by nearly $90 an ounce, a record one-day gain, as investors seek safety amid turmoil in stock markets.
20 February 2009 – Gold rises back above $1,000 an ounce to a peak of $1,005.40 during the financial crisis.
7 August 2009 – European central banks renew their earlier agreement to limit gold sales over a five-year period, setting the sales cap at 400 tonnes a year.
8 September 2009 – Gold breaks back through $1,000 an ounce for the first time since February 2009 on dollar weakness and concerns over the economic recovery.
1 December 2009 – Gold climbs above $1,200 an ounce for the first time as the dollar drops.
11 May 2010 – Gold reaches fresh record high above $1,230 an ounce as fears over the contagion of debt problems in the eurozone fuel safe-haven buying.
21 June 2010 – Gold jumps to a new peak of $1,264.90 an ounce.
14 September 2010 – Gold climbs back to record highs, this time at $1,269.30, amid fears that the global recovery is running out of steam.
16 September 2010 – Gold rises to a peak of $1,275.95, driven by a weaker dollar and economic uncertainty.
17 September 2010 – Gold hits a fresh record high of above $1,282 an ounce.
Statistics courtesy of Julia Kollewe
