books.google.de - The U.S. monetary system is based on paper money backed by the full faith and credit of the fed. gov't. The currency is neither valued in, backed by, nor officially convertible into gold or silver. Through much of its history, however, the U.S. was on a metallic standard of one sort or another. On occasion,...http://books.google.de/books/about/Brief_History_of_the_Gold_Standard_GS_in.html?hl=de&id=ztHyT2ew3QUC&utm_source=gb-gplus-shareBrief History of the Gold Standard (GS) in the United States
