The Gold Standard Act was signed on March 14, 1900 by President McKinley. This ended the fierce battle over bi-metalism in the US, making gold the only precious metal backing US currency. The Act fixed the value of gold to the dollar at a rate set by the Act. On April 19, 1933 the US went off the gold standard domestically, depriving US citizens of their ability to have their currency holdings converted to gold. In 1971 the Nixon administration stopped international holders of US currency from having their currency holdings converted to gold. Whether the gold standard is a good or bad idea is a rabbit hole I will decline to go down in this post.
Donald R. McClarey
Paul Zummo
Almost Chosen People 