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The basing of a currency on gold. In some sense in such a system, gold IS the currency and money is a symbol for a corresponding amount of gold, backed by the issuer - i.e. the bank promises that by some means you are always able to exchange X of its currency for Y gold, and vice versa.

No country still uses the gold standard - modern currencies are free floating with their value determined by local markets and exchange rates with other currencies.

Even so, national governments still usually carry large gold reserves as a holdover from the time when they needed them as a physical guarantee. Gold has remained valuable over thousands of years so it can always be sold as needed for any currency (including its own) that a country might need, or bought to safely store wealth.

A currency system in which each dollar is worth 1/20 of an ounce of gold (gradpoint)

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7y ago

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