time, about $311 million in gold pieces was in circulation. Since then, circulating currency, both paper and coin, has been fiat money, the worth of which is derived from its purchasing power rather than from its redeemable value. The U.S. dollar has officially been devalued several times since the Gold Reserve Act. During the 1970s the value of the dollar dropped sharply against more stable currencies, while the price of gold climbed. The U.S. economic recovery of the early 1980s reversed this pattern. By 1986, however, attempts were made to lower the enormous U.S. trade deficit by reducing the value of the dollar against other currencies.Silver dollars continued in circulation until 1965, when they almost disappeared because the value of their silver content exceeded their face value. Beginning in 1975, U.S. citizens were allowed to own, buy, and sell gold as a commodity, but gold coins could not circulate as money....
