Gold

Gold, counted among the most precious metals of the world, has played a key role in the monetary framework. It is also used for producing gold bars, bullion coins and similar units of fixed purity and weight, which makes gold a medium to store wealth in hoards. The utility of gold in the monetary framework increased in the period leading to the first World War, when warring countries decided to use fractional gold standards in bid to inflate their currencies. The move was aimed at financing the war costs, point out experts. Following the war, the United Kingdom had begun restoring gold-convertibility, but global outflows of gold in the forms of bills of exchange remained embargoed. International shipments at the time were restricted exclusively for war reparations and bilateral trade. Following the second World War, gold was swapped by a regime of nominally convertible currencies regulated by fixed exchange rates -- based on the Bretton Woods system. In the period to come, gold standards and the direct convertibility of currencies to the precious metal was discontinued by most countries. This move was led by the United States of America, which decided not to redeem its dollars into gold in 1971. Currently, fiat currency fulfils most monetary roles in the world. More