If you'd put $1,000 in gold in January 2005…
…it would be worth about $12,117 today — roughly 12.1× your money, about 12.5% a year. (price return only)
How this is calculated
We take the closing price of gold on January 3, 2005 ($428.50) and the most recent close on March 10, 2026 ($5,191.93), a span of 21.2 years. The $1,000 grows in proportion to that price change.
Gold pays no dividends or interest, so price return is the full return here. Daily closing prices are sourced from public market data. Figures are nominal (not inflation-adjusted).
Common questions
Is this adjusted for inflation?
No. These are nominal figures — what the position would be worth in today's dollars, not adjusted for inflation. In real, inflation-adjusted terms the gain would be smaller.
Does this include dividends?
Gold pays no dividends, so the price return shown is effectively the full return.
Could I have actually bought this?
In practice, yes — though real-world results would differ from this illustration due to fees, spreads, and exact timing.
Want to give someone a stake in this?
Numbers like these are why people are starting to give stock instead of gift cards. If you want to put a share of a company or index in someone's hands — a graduate, a new baby, a curious kid — that's what Beestow does: pick a company, set an amount, and they claim it with a tap. No brokerage account needed to start.
See the long-run math on a gifted share →Past performance does not predict future results. Historical figures are for illustration only and are not investment advice.