Jay Gould

Jason Gould (May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American financier.

Black Friday

In August 1869, Gould and Fisk began to buy gold in an attempt to corner the market, hoping that the increase in price of gold would increase the price of wheat such that western farmers would sell, causing a great amount of shipping of breadstuffs eastward, increasing freight business for the Erie railroad. During this time, Gould used contacts with President Ulysses S. Grant's brother-in-law, A.H. Corbin, to try to influence the president and his Secretary General Horace Porter. These speculations in gold culminated in the panic of Black Friday (1869), on September 24, 1869, when the premium over face value on a gold Double Eagle fell from 62% to 35%.

Related Topics:
Ulysses S. Grant - Horace Porter - Black Friday (1869) - September 24 - 1869 - Double Eagle

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