I provide a structured comparison of the nineteenth-century classical gold standard and the Euro, basing my analysis …, but in both cases such discipline was erratic. But whereas the gold standard was always a contingent monetary regime …, there is nothing contingent about Euro-area membership. Finally, the gold standard operated in a simpler political setting …

preferences -- The United States : from greenbacks to gold, 1862-79 -- The United States : silver threats among the gold, 1880 …