His acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention of 1896 ended with the famous, "You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold!" The issue was embodied by William Jennings Bryan, who ran for president and lost on the Democratic ticket in 1896, 19. Silver was favored by politicians from states producing silver and by many Democrats, and Southerners. Laborers and factory workers also wanted inflation to make it easier to pay off debts. Farmers liked inflation because it raised the price of crops and lowered the cost of debt. Silver had its own fanatical backers and they were for a bi-metallic standard that favored easy money. This act created a controversy that lasted for decades between those who were pro-inflation and those who were against it. Congress was in inflation-fighting mode in 1873 when it voted to cease using silver to back paper money and established gold as the sole criteria. Gold, despite its longevity as a trustworthy container of value, has proven more readily manipulated by the government than handgun prices. A Web site sells the stainless steel Colt 1911 Gold Cup Trophy 45 for $1050 45 ACP could be called the standard now and it hits the price of an ounce of gold pretty close to the bull's eye if you go for a top of the line model, but don't go too crazy. The Army bought about 2.7 million of these from 1911 to 1985 when it was replaced by the Italian-made Beretta 9-mm which can be bought for about $750. The other gold-standard pistol, also made by Colt's, is the. 44 magnum Smith & Wesson 629, sells for about $825. It does depend on the gun and what you consider to be "good." A Glock similar to the one Plaxico Burress was carrying when he accidentally shot himself in the thigh at a nightclub, can be found on line for a little over $500 and the gun that made Dirty Harry's day, the long-barreled. More than 20 years later I put his statement to the test.įor the most part, it's still true. I generally believed what he said on matters dealing with firearms. He had survivalist mentality, a guerrilla fighter's point of view. In it Bob holds a microphone and sports a beard even bigger than Castro's. There is film of Bob interviewing Castro after the fall of Batista in 1959 that can be seen in the documentary "David Halberstam's the 50s". During this period gold lagged behind the handgun. Gold was set at $20.67 an ounce where it stayed until 1934 when President Franklin Roosevelt devalued the dollar to 1/35 of an ounce of gold. President Grant signed it into law in February of that year. In 1873, Congress put the United States on the gold standard with the Fourth Coinage Act, which de-monetized silver and made gold the only metal by which to fix currency. Gold was in the midst of one of its many upheavals when the Peacemaker arrived. Gold Double Eagle $20 coins from that year can be found on line for $1500 to $5000 depending on condition about the same price as Colt SAA's of similar age and condition. So your $20 gold piece spent on this gun in 1873 would have returned 874900%.
Colt saa 357 magnum for sale serial number#
A recent check of found scores of listings at a wide variety of prices from $1,699 at the bottom to $175,000 asked for a Colt "Pinch Frame" called "the Holy Grail of single action collecting." This gun carries the serial number 58. Today an ounce of gold is about $1,090 and a new Colt SAA can be special ordered from Colt's custom shop for about $1,500.Īs a collector's item the Colt fares even better. The $20 Double Eagle of 1873 contained 0.9675 ounces of pure gold. The complete kit with a holster and some ammunition could be covered by a $20 gold piece.