Gold Standard

The gold standard was used to describe the relationship between a country’s currency and gold. This arrangement was used by almost every country in the world as a way to regulate the issuance and pricing of money.

Governments would set a fixed price for an ounce of gold and use that price-point to determine the value of their currency.

The gold standard was replaced by fiat money, a monetary system that removes gold from the equation and allows currencies to float freely with nothing to back them other than the collective trust placed in the issuing governments.