[AnimalMuppet]

> The primary standards of international trade during the mercantilist and merchant capitalist eras were silver bullion coins like the Spanish dollar.

Fine, but that doesn't answer jwallaceparker's point, which was that gold and silver had been used for money for thousands of years. And weren't ancient Greek coins electrum (gold/silver)?

> Formal gold specie standards arose during the 19th century by royal fiat and soon displaced other currencies.

Fine, but weren't gold and silver used as coin long before that (even if not by formal royal fiat)?

[vezzy-fnord]

I don't deny any of that. My objection was to the GP's initial singling out of gold. I'm also skeptical of how constraining a commodity requirement is in light of modern financial institutions and public finance.

[AnimalMuppet]

> I'm also skeptical of how constraining a commodity requirement is in light of modern financial institutions and public finance.

I also am skeptical of that. I think that, since 1975 or so when the value of gold was allowed to float, the Fed has kept the value of the dollar more stable than the value of gold (or silver). And "in light of modern financial institutions and public finance", it's pretty important to hold the value of the unit of account more or less constant...