Our currency is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. There has been no connection between gold and the US dollar since October 1976. There are no currencies backed by gold anywhere.
There are occasional foreign payments that are demanded to be paid in gold, so every once in a while the Treasury pays in gold. But it’s pretty rare and not very practical for anyone.
@Dutchess_III During the Great Depression the US dollar was backed up by gold. So, in order to boost the dollar’s strength FDR set a limit on how much gold a person could own. All excess had to be turned into the United States Department of the Treasury. At this point gold is nothing more than emergency collateral.
And to think… thousands of years ago when salt was difficult to obtain, it was a highly valued trade item to the point of being considered a form of currency by certain peoples. Who knows? Maybe Fort Knox is really filled with salt.