Resource 9-1: California Gold Production


Year
Production
Miners
Value per ounce

1848
$10,000,000
6,000
$16.00

1849
$40,000,000
40,000

1850
$50,000,000

1851
$60,000,000

1852
$81,200,000
100,000

1853
$65,000,000

1854
$60,000,000

1855
$55,000,000

1856
$56,000,000

1860
$45,000,000

1861
100,000

1865
$18,000,000

1866-1990
$17,000,000/yr

1873
30,000
(3/4 Chinese)

1990
$383.61

1995
$384.14

  • 1848 to 1948: Gold production was about $2 billion. All the gold production in a century was worth less than the value of one year's agricultural output of the state in the 1960s.
  • Gold production from 1850-1865 ($172,387,985) was significant in maintaining federal currency during the Civil War.
  • Part II, Resource 9-1
    Page 40
    [LESSONS][FIRST PAGE][PREVIOUS PAGE][TOP] This is the end of the lesson.