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A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. Three types can be distinguished: specie, exchange, and bullion. * In the ''gold specie standard'' the monetary unit is associated with the value of circulating gold coins or the monetary unit has the value of a certain circulating gold coin, but other coins may be made of less valuable metal. *The ''gold bullion standard'' is a system in which gold coins do not circulate, but the authorities agree to sell gold bullion on demand at a fixed price in exchange for the circulating currency. *The ''gold exchange standard'' usually does not involve the circulation of gold coins. The main feature of the gold exchange standard is that the government guarantees a fixed exchange rate to the currency of another country that uses a gold standard (specie or bullion), regardless of what type of notes or coins are used as a means of exchange. This creates a ''de facto'' gold standard, where the value of the means of exchange has a fixed external value in terms of gold that is independent of the inherent value of the means of exchange itself. Most nations abandoned the gold standard as the basis of their monetary systems at some point in the 20th century, although many hold substantial gold reserves.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Gold_standard.aspx )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/69483/william-o-scroggs/what-is-left-of-the-gold-standard )〕 An estimated total of 174,100 tonnes of gold have been mined in human history, according to GFMS as of 2012. This is roughly equivalent to 5.6 billion troy ounces or, in terms of volume, about , or a cube on a side. There are varying estimates of the total volume of gold mined. One reason for the variance is that gold has been mined for thousands of years. Another reason is that some nations are not particularly open about how much gold is being mined. In addition, it is difficult to account for the gold output in illegal mining activities.〔http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21969100〕 World production for 2011 was at 2,700 tonnes. Since the 1950s, annual gold output growth has approximately kept pace with world population growth of around 2x,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=FAQs | Investment | World Gold Council )〕 although far less than world economic growth of some 8x,〔(Measuring worth )〕 or some 4x since 1980.〔(Download entire World Economic Outlook database, April 2013 )〕 ==History== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gold standard」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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