The weight of gold

We were watching an old John Wayne movie a few weeks ago. In the movie John Wayne and friends robbed a stagecoach loaded with gold (all justified of course since the man who owned the stagecoach and the gold acquired said gold through dishonest means). As John Wayne and his friends moved the bags of gold dust from the stagecoach to their wagons, Sasha asked "Was gold heavier in the olden days?" Maybe people were just weaker.