James Madison, the chief architect of the U.S. Constitution, recognized the problem with discretionary government fiat money and the benefit of a commodity standard and convertibility long ago.

FORBES: The Federal Reserve's Flawed Approach To Monetary Policy

With the outbreak of World War I (1914) the central banks of most major countries abandoned the classical gold standard and began issuing fiat paper money.

FORBES: Gold, Reagan and the Reds: From Degraded Dollar to Downgraded Debt