Editing Gold standard (section)

===Fluctuations in the U.S. gold stock, 1862–1877===
{| class="wikitable floatright"
|-
! colspan=2|US gold stock
|-
| 1862 || 59 tons
|-
| 1866 || 81 tons
|-
| 1875 || 50 tons
|-
| 1878 || 78 tons
|}
The U.S. had a gold stock of {{convert|1.9|e6ozt|t|abbr=unit}} in 1862. Stocks rose to {{convert|2.6|e6ozt|t|abbr=unit}} in 1866, declined in 1875 to {{convert|1.6|e6ozt|t|abbr=unit}} and rose to {{convert|2.5|e6ozt|t|abbr=unit}} in 1878. Net exports did not mirror that pattern. In the decade before the Civil War net exports were roughly constant; postwar they varied erratically around pre-war levels but fell significantly in 1877 and became negative in 1878 and 1879. The net import of gold meant that the foreign demand for American currency to purchase goods, services, and investments exceeded the corresponding American demands for foreign currencies. In the final years of the greenback period (1862–1879), gold production increased while gold exports decreased. The decrease in gold exports was considered by some to be a result of changing monetary conditions. The demands for gold during this period were as a speculative vehicle, and for its primary use in the foreign exchange markets financing international trade. The major effect of the increase in gold demand by the public and Treasury was to reduce exports of gold and increase the Greenback price of gold relative to purchasing power.{{sfn|Friedman|Schwartz|1963|p=79}}