In his occasional paper THE RETURN TO GOLD 1925 , Cambridge University scholar, Donald E. Moggridge, tells us that it was Sir Isaac Newton, who, back in 1717, set the price of gold at 77 shillings 10 and 1/2 pence per standard ounce (22-carat, .9167 fine), a price that endured for two hundred years.
In reality, Sir Isaac, serving as Master of the Mint, recommended that the gold coin of the realm (Guinea) be valued at 20 shillings 8 pence (which corresponded with 76 shillings 7.6 pence per 22-carat ounce), but Parliament rejected his odd number and set the guinea at 21 shillings even (www.friesian.com/coins). This of course compelled Sir Isaac to increase his mint price of gold by 1 shilling 2.9 pence in order to make 89 guinea coins out of two troy pounds of 22-carat gold at Parliament’s price. Thus it was Parliament, not Sir Isaac, who set the price of gold at 77s 10.5d, which was destined to preside over the rise and fall of an aberrant monetary system known as gold standard.
Continue reading Gold Standard = Fiat In Disguise
Related reading:
How Sir Isaac Newton Became Master of The Royal Mint And Profited From it Financially
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