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.
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    Part II, Resource 9-1
    Page 40
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