At what price per ounce was the U.S. dollar pegged to gold under the Bretton Woods system? $35 per troy ounce.
After the 1944 Bretton Woods conference, the U.S. dollar became the central reserve currency of a system of fixed exchange rates. Other participating countries linked their currencies to the dollar, while the United States promised to exchange dollars held by foreign governments and central banks for gold at the official rate.
The $35 price was an official monetary rate, not a normal retail gold price. It also did not mean that every individual could freely redeem dollars for gold; convertibility was primarily available to foreign monetary authorities. The arrangement helped stabilize international trade and payments after World War II.
The system came under pressure as overseas dollar holdings grew faster than U.S. gold reserves. On August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon suspended dollar convertibility into gold, an event known as the Nixon Shock. The Bretton Woods framework was subsequently replaced by a system of largely floating exchange rates.