Gold standard
Monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold.
- Gold standard500 related topics
Monetary system
System by which a government provides money in a country's economy.
(This is known as the gold standard.) The silver standard was widespread after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, and lasted until 1935, when it was abandoned by China and Hong Kong.
Dutch guilder
The currency of the Netherlands from the 15th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro.
This table summarizes the gulden's value in terms of silver until the gold standard was introduced in 1875.
Silver standard
Monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of silver.
The move away from the silver to the gold standard began in the 18th century when Great Britain set the gold guinea’s price in silver higher than international prices, attracting gold and putting them on a de facto gold standard.
Central bank
Institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a state or formal monetary union,
At the most basic level, monetary policy involves establishing what form of currency the country may have, whether a fiat currency, gold-backed currency (disallowed for countries in the International Monetary Fund), currency board or a currency union.
Gold
Chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79, making it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally.
In the past, a gold standard was often implemented as a monetary policy.
Monetary policy
Policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for very short-term borrowing or the money supply, often as an attempt to reduce inflation or the interest rate, to ensure price stability and general trust of the value and stability of the nation's currency.
The establishment of national banks by industrializing nations was associated then with the desire to maintain the currency's relationship to the gold standard, and to trade in a narrow currency band with other gold-backed currencies.
Great Depression
Severe worldwide economic depression between 1929 and 1939 that began after a major fall in stock prices in the United States.
One reason why the Federal Reserve did not act to limit the decline of the money supply was the gold standard.
Convertibility
Quality that allows money or other financial instruments to be converted into other liquid stores of value.
Under the gold and silver standards, notes were redeemable for coin at face value, though often failing banks and governments would overextend their reserves.
German mark (1871)
The currency of the German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918.
The mark was on the gold standard from 1871–1914, but like most nations during World War I, the German Empire removed the gold backing in August 1914, and gold and silver coins ceased to circulate.
Portuguese real
The unit of currency of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire from around 1430 until 1911.
In 1854, Portugal adopted a gold standard with the milréis equal to 1.62585 g fine gold.