ABSTRACT
The first remarkable increase in gold production came with the discoveries of gold in Australia and in California, and production doubled in about five years. It doubled once more in the next five years and doubled again in three years. The known gold mines had already reached their peak of production; this combined with the low value of gold reduced production by more than one-fourth. The phenomenal production from 1850 to 1870 so reduced the value of gold that it came into more general use as money. Gold and silver have many uses. This fact, and the fact that small quantities were very valuable, making them easy to transport, led to their use as money. Judging by the effect of the value of gold on its industrial use less than half this amount of time would be required to use the world monetary stocks if gold should lose half of its value.
