The 1869 U.S. gold-market panic linked to Jay Gould and James Fisk was called Black Friday.
Gould and Fisk attempted to drive up the price of gold by limiting the amount available on the market. They hoped higher gold prices would benefit their associated railroad interests and produce large profits. Their plan depended partly on President Ulysses S. Grant not releasing government gold.
When Grant’s administration intervened and the Treasury sold gold on 24 September 1869, the price dropped sharply. Speculators who had bought at inflated prices suffered heavy losses, while the turmoil spread through financial markets.
Black Friday was primarily a gold-market manipulation scandal, not the same type of broad stock-market crash as 1929 or 1987. The event damaged confidence in Wall Street and became a lasting example of how concentrated speculation and political influence could endanger markets.