ABSTRACT
The adoption of a gold standard by Britain in 1816 was not the result of a hastily considered decision. It was the result of a series of currency experiments which had extended over more than a century. The Newtonian experiments from 1700 to 1717; the stabilisation of the Guinea at 21s.; the substitution of a virtual gold standard as the silver coinage drained away; the suspension of cash payments in 1797; all these were leading inevitably to the currency revolution of 1816, which established the gold standard till the outbreak of war in 1914. The currency revolution of 1922-32 did not have the same degree of preparation. In the hurried days of reconstruction after the war it was necessary to improvise a new international currency, without an elaborate preparation. The conclusion is supported by actual experience of the working of the Ottawa system of currency.
