Specie precious-metals-based currency is the monetary policy put forth in the U.S. Constitution.

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From the early rise of capitalism, private bankers issued their own currencies, or specie warehouse receipts.

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It was state intervention, not the private market, that made metal specie work as money.

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In the absence of convertibility into specie, there must be a monetary rule to anchor the nominal value of paper currency.

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The experience of private specie in Britain during the Industrial Revolution allows us to conclude that issuers would provide better value protection than governments.

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RBS' officers hoarded the Bank of Scotland's bank notes, then presented them all at once in a surprise attack, demanding the gold and silver specie that backed them.

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The bearer could turn them in for the actual specie.

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