[385] On March 18, 1869, he signed the Public Credit Act of 1869 that guaranteed bondholders would be repaid in "coin or its equivalent", while greenbacks would gradually be redeemed by the Treasury and replaced by notes backed by specie. The act committed the government to the full return of the gold standard within ten years.[386] This followed a policy of "hard currency, economy and gradual reduction of the national debt."Grant's own ideas about the economy were simple, and he relied on the advice of wealthy and financially successful businessmen that he courted.[384]

Gold corner conspiracy
Further information: Black Friday (1869)
In April 1869, two railroad tycoons Jay Gould and Jim Fisk conspired a plot to corner the gold market in New York, the nation's financial capital.[387] They both controlled the Erie Railroad, and a high price of gold would allow foreign agriculture buyers to purchase exported crops, shipped east over the Erie's routes.[388] Boutwell's bi-weekly policy of selling gold from the Treasury, however, kept gold artificially low.[389] Unable to corrupt Boutwell, the two schemers built a relationship with Grant's brother-in-law, Abel Corbin, and gained access to Grant.