Gold standard
The gold standard is the most famous monetary system that ever existed.
The periods in which the gold standard flourished, the groupings of countries under the gold standard, and the dates during which individual countries adhered to this standard are delineated in the first section. Then characteristics of the gold standard (what elements make for a gold standard), the various types of the standard (domestic versus international, coin versus other, legal versus effective), and implications for a country's money supply on the standard are outlined. The longest section is devoted to the “classical” gold standard, the predominant monetary system that ended in 1914 (when World War I began), followed by a section on the “interwar” gold standard, which operated between the two World Wars (the 1920s and 1930s).
Countries on the gold standard and the periods (or beginning and ending dates) during which they were on gold are listed in Tables 1 and 2 for the classical and interwar gold standards. Types of the gold standard, ambiguities of dates, and individual-country cases are considered in later sections. The country groupings reflect the importance of countries in establishing and maintaining the standard. Center countries — Britain in the classical standard, the United Kingdom (Britain’s legal name since 1922), and the United States in the interwar period — were indispensable to the spread and functioning of the gold standard. The other core countries — France, Germany, and the United States in the classical period — attracted other countries to adopt the gold standard, particularly British colonies and dominions, Western European countries, and Scandinavia. Other countries — and, for some purposes, also British colonies and dominions — were on the periphery: acted on, rather than actors, in the gold-standard eras and generally not as committed to the gold standard.
The price of gold remained remarkably stable for long periods. For example, Sir Isaac Newton, as master of the U.K. Mint, set the gold price at L3.17s. 10d. per troy ounce in 1717, and it remained effectively the same for two hundred years until 1914. The only exception was during the Napoleonic wars from 1797 to 1821. The official U.S. Government gold price has changed only four times from 1792 to the present. Starting at $19.75 per troy ounce, it raised to $20.67 in 1834 and $35 in 1934. In 1972, the price was raised to $38 and then to $42.22 in 1973.
Historic Gold Prices. National Mining Association - The National Mining Association is the official voice of U.S. mining. Retrieved from: https://nma.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/historic_gold_prices_1833_pres.pdf
Gold Standard. Economic History Association. Retrieved from: https://eh.net/encyclopedia/gold-standard/