ABSTRACT
Monetary systems based almost entirely on inconvertible paper, sometimes called 'fiat moneys', are, then, quite rare in economic history until the modern period and were nearly always temporary expedients resorted to only in times of war. Gold and silver functioned as money because both commodities enjoyed great popularity and were in constant demand in all communities, from relatively primitive societies to the most advanced of civilizations. Of all prominent economists and economic historians it has been the American, Milton Friedman, who has campaigned longest and hardest for a restitution of bimetallism to its proper place in economic history. In so doing, Friedman has consistently challenged the conventional wisdom about the merits and demerits of a dual standard as opposed to monometallism. If Britain led the way in the development of a true monometallic regime, perhaps an essential precondition of a modern currency system, it was certainly not the case that Britain pioneered the internationalization of currencies.
