Sure, most people are like fans of US Gold Bureau who realize that the gold standard simply refers to a currency which is tied to a certain amount of gold it could be redeemed for. This basic understanding is very good to have, but it is just a start and there is more to the concept than this. Those at United States Gold Bureau understand that a deeper knowledge is important than just knowing that a government would sell gold at a certain price to those who wanted to sell their currency back. Let's look back through history and see how the gold standard got its start.Many history buffs at US Gold Bureau know that the silver standard was common for nations after the Byzantinebackward centrifugal fan extractor Empire fell so long ago. The first world currency came from Spain and was referred to as pieces of 8, based on silver and not gold. History fans at United States Gold Bureau know this is the currency that the US dollar ended up being based on later. It would not be until the 1800's, though, that the world's nations would switch from the silver standard to the gold standard. In 1821, as U.S. Gold Bureau history fans know, the United Kingdom became the first nation in the world to go onto the gold standard. Canada, the United States and Germany swiftly followed suit, all making the switch prior to 1900. As U.S. Gold Bureau fans know, the purpose was to give people real value for their currency because they could trade it for gold at a price the government set. This was great, but it also meant the government could refuse to redeem the currency for gold if it so chose and this happened more than once.During the Civil War in the US, the government needed massive amounts of gold in order to purchase supplies centrifugal blower fan suppliersand equipment so it suspended the ability to turn in currency for gold. This would happen once again during the Great Depression era, in 1933, when gold was actually confiscated for the government to have. That is when the US left the gold standard, but it was officially off of it forever after a 1971 decision to no longer redeem dollars for precious metals. Today, the debate still rages over whether the US should return to the gold standard, an option plenty of people still support.As you can see, the gold standard has a fairly short history in modern times. Many people want it to return, but it remains unlikely that this will ever end up happening. In the mean time, investors continue to amass gold because it remains a stable and truly viable asset that can help them to diversify their investment portfolios. It is one of the world's best ways to keep your investment portfolio stable even when the value of currencies fluctuates wildly.
