Does Gold Back the American Dollar?

The American Dollar’s history dates back to before the United States of America declared their independence from British rule.

The American Dollar was only a symbol at the time it was created and approved by Congress in 1786. No actual coins or notes were produced until 1792 when the Coinage Act was signed. This is the year that the dollar became a coin and not the paper currency we are familiar with today. The American Dollar coin was 24.75 grains gold at that time and the dollar coins were made of silver.

In 1900, United States Government moved to Gold Standard. This meant that all currency used in the nation was backed up by a specific amount of gold held at the Federal Repository. The value of a dollar at that time was equal to 23.22 grains gold.

The Gold Standard was repeatedly suspended and then reinstated in the following years. In 1963, the United States followed most other countries of the world by making their currency a fiat money, which is not directly backed up by gold or any other precious metals.