Jay Gould, James Fisk, and other speculators plotted but failed to control the United States gold market, causing prices to plummet.

Jay Gould

American railroad magnate (1836–1892)

Jason Gould was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who founded the Gould business dynasty. He is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made him one of the wealthiest men of the…

James Fisk (financier)

American businessman (1835–1872)

James Fisk Jr., known variously as "Big Jim", "Diamond Jim", and "Jubilee Jim" – was an American stockbroker and corporate executive who has been referred to as one of the "robber barons" of the Gilded Age. Though Fisk was admired by the working class of New York and the Erie…

Speculation

Engaging in risky financial transactions

In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset with the hope that it will become more valuable in a brief amount of time. It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.

New York Gold Exchange

The New York Gold Exchange was an exchange formed shortly after the beginning of the American Civil War for the purpose of creating an open market for transactions involving gold and the government-created paper currency, the greenback. Established in 1862, it closed in 1897.

Black Friday (1869)

American gold panic

On September 24, 1869, a gold panic broke out in the United States, triggering a financial crisis. The panic, which became known as Black Friday, was the result of a conspiracy between two investors, Jay Gould, later joined by his partner James Fisk, and Abel Corbin, a small…