For much of American history, gold and silver were directly linked with the country’s currency. Memories of the hyper-inflation associated with the circulation of fiat “Continental Dollars” during the Revolutionary War prompted a long-standing belief that “sound money” consisted of paper dollars linked with gold and coinage created from silver. On August 15, 1971, President Richard Nixon, facing a variety of economic challenges, ended the U.S. government’s historic commitment to maintaining the