Gold was the precious metal whose price was manipulated during the 1869 Black Friday panic in the United States. Speculators Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the gold market by driving up its price.
The scheme depended partly on the belief that the federal government would not sell large amounts of gold. Gould and Fisk accumulated gold and encouraged buying, causing the quoted price to rise sharply. The operation threatened to distort the wider financial system and unsettle securities markets.
The U.S. Treasury eventually intervened by selling $4 million in gold on 24 September 1869. The extra supply broke the corner, and gold prices plunged. The resulting turmoil damaged investors, businesses, and the reputations of the manipulators.
This Black Friday was not the same event as the 1929 crash or the 1987 crash. It occurred in the post-Civil War era, when the relationship between paper currency, government gold reserves, and financial speculation was especially important.