History of the gold standard

As long as there have been people, there’s been an attraction to gold. From pharaohs to hedge funds, gold has been an important tool of building and protecting wealth. This interactive gold timeline carries you through gold's enduring path as a universal symbol of wealth.


Gold belongs to the first metals that were processed by humans. With its strikingly gleaming yellow color, gold was found in nature in its "native", i.e. elemental, form, lent itself well to mechanical treatment, and did not corrode. Because of the permanence of its luster, its rareness, and its striking weight, it was much desired and used in many cultures, especially for ritual objects.

The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard. First, the gold specie standard is a system in which the monetary unit is associated with circulating gold coins, or with the unit of value defined in terms of one particular circulating gold coin in conjunction with subsidiary coinage made from a lesser valuable metal.

Similarly, history of the gold standard shows that the gold exchange standard typically involves the circulation of only coins made of silver or other metals, but where the authorities guarantee a fixed exchange rate with another country that is on the gold standard. This creates a de facto gold standard, in that the value of the silver coins has a fixed external value in terms of gold that is independent of the inherent silver value. Finally, the gold bullion standard is a system in which gold coins do not circulate, but in which the authorities have agreed to sell gold bullion on demand at a fixed price in exchange for the circulating currency.


Find out about our Inflation-Proof investment opportunities

Return from History of the gold standard to Invest in Gold