The 1869 U.S. gold-market collapse associated with Jay Gould and James Fisk was called Black Friday.
Gould and Fisk attempted to corner the U.S. gold market by buying large amounts of gold and encouraging others to push prices higher. They hoped President Ulysses S. Grant’s administration would avoid selling government gold, which would have increased supply and reduced the price. Grant eventually ordered Treasury gold sales after becoming concerned about the scheme.
On September 24, 1869, the Treasury released gold, causing the price to fall sharply. Speculators and investors suffered heavy losses, and the event became known as Black Friday. The crash affected financial markets and damaged confidence in Wall Street dealings.
This Black Friday is different from later “Black Friday” names. It was a nineteenth-century gold-market panic, not a retail-shopping day or the 1929 stock-market day sometimes called Black Tuesday. The episode also became associated with political influence and market manipulation.