During Civil War The exchange was established in 1862 in a basement on New Street. The exchange was created during the
American Civil War, when the
Union issued paper money to fund the war effort. Gold trading was initially banned at the
New York Stock Exchange, which viewed the practice as unpatriotic
speculation in wartime. This was because
Confederate victories resulted in an increase in the price of gold relative to the greenback dollar, causing gold traders to sing "
Dixie" in the Exchange when they received news of a Confederate victory. , one of the founders of the New York Gold Exchange, and its president for a timeThe banishment of gold trading from the New York Stock Exchange "barely halted the trade for an instant" as gold traders relocated to various basements on
Wall Street,
William Street, and
Broad Street. The New York Gold Exchange's new facility, located at the corner of William Street and
Exchange Place, was usually known simply as the
Gold Room. The lavishly appointed exchange "anticipated the dawning
Gilded Age." The businessman
James Boorman Colgate was a founder and president of the New York Gold Exchange. Other founders of the Gold Exchange included
Levi P. Morton, a youthful
J. P. Morgan, and other Wall Street figures. The annual membership fee was $25, Gold trading became less profitable as the stock market became more
stable, and the Exchange stopped operating on January 1, 1897, after
specie resumption. ==See also==