It was believed that these objectives could be best achieved by establishing a single standard of value. Unfortunately, soon after the Great Depression, most countries found reasons to go off the gold standard. The new reasoning was that the exports of a country could be stimulated by currency devaluation in terms of foreign exchange. This was a shortsighted view, however, because exports gained only as long as the currencies of other countries remained high in value. As other nations devalued their currencies, any advantage for trade was lost.
Most governments still like their currencies to be free of the gold standard.
When a currency is tied to gold, a government has little room in which to manipulate economic policy because its currency is tied to an international standard. The typical gold bullion coin is legal tender of a nation, and its gold content is guaranteed by the issuing nation. The coin bears a face value, but that value is in fact symbolic because true market value depends solely on the gold content. Gold bullion coins, along with privately minted coin-like medallions, are quite popular. Most are small, have convenient weights, and are easy to store.