Given that they were used physically, silver and gold complemented each other: gold's high stock‐to‐flow ratio meant it was ideal as a long‐term store of value and a means of large payments, but silver's lower value per unit of weight made it easily divisible into quantities suitable for smaller transactions and for being held for shorter durations. While this arrangement had benefits, it had one major drawback: the fluctuating rate of exchange between gold and silver created trade and calculation problems. Attempts to fix the price of the two currencies relative to one another were
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