Gold has been used for money.
Gold . In the past , a gold standard was often implemented as a monetary policy , but gold coins ceased to be minted as a circulating currency in the 1930s , and the world gold standard was abandoned for a fiat currency system after 1976 . A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold . Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country , like the central bank or currency board , controls the supply of money , often targeting an inflation rate or interest rate to ensure price stability and general trust in the currency .