The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896 (Oxford History of the United States)

by Richard White

In reality, the gold standard was neither ancient nor natural. Both the international gold standard and American dependence on a fiat currency were new and revolutionary. The British, who formally adopted the gold standard in 1819, were virtually alone until the 1860s when others followed.