Global fiat-currency history timeline

Date Milestone Why it matters Verification source
c. 650–575 BCE Electrum coinage develops in western Anatolia/Lydia Combines precious metal, standard form, issuer mark, and seigniorage; commodity money with institutional certification British Museum
64 CE onward Nero and later Roman emperors reduce denarius silver content Shows the continuum from full-bodied coin to fiduciary/debased money without automatically creating fiat Cambridge, Roman silver coinage
Tang era, 8th–9th centuries “Flying cash” remittance instruments spread Early paper-based transfer claims; important to payments history but not clear circulating fiat von Glahn
c. 1010 Private Sichuan merchants issue jiaozi Early circulating paper claims convertible into iron coin Guan, Palma and Wu 2024
1023 Song government takes control of jiaozi issue Converts private paper credit into regulated public note issue von Glahn
1105 Northern Song introduces qianyin Extends government paper-money practice Guan, Palma and Wu 2024
c. 1160 Southern Song huizi begins Major government note system; later overissue weakens effective convertibility Guan, Palma and Wu 2024
1260 Kublai Khan issues Zhongtong chao Begins Yuan paper regime with a silver relationship and initial convertibility Guan, Palma and Wu 2024
1271 Yuan paper declared sole legal tender Strengthens state monopoly and tax/payment demand Guan, Palma and Wu 2024
1287 Yuan Zhiyuan notes introduced Reform attempts to stabilize and reorganize paper issue Guan, Palma and Wu 2024
1310 Yuan paper becomes de jure nonconvertible One of the strongest early dates for clear state fiat paper Guan, Palma and Wu 2024
1352 Yuan Zhizheng notes introduced Late reform amid fiscal and political deterioration Guan, Palma and Wu 2024
1375 Ming issues Da Ming Baochao National, ordinarily nonconvertible state paper standard Henan Museum
1436 Ming broadens legal use of silver and coin Formal paper monopoly yields to actual metallic circulation Henan Museum
1609 Bank of Amsterdam founded Public ledger money standardizes settlement among many coins; later fiat classification is debated Quinn and Roberds, DOI 10.1016/j.jmoneco.2014.03.004
1661 Stockholms Banco issues Europe’s first modern banknotes Redeemable bank credit notes demonstrate that paper is not necessarily fiat Sveriges Riksbank
1668 Sveriges Riksbank founded Durable public central-banking institution emerges after Stockholms Banco’s failure Sveriges Riksbank
27 July 1694 Bank of England founded Links note issue, government finance, public debt, and later central banking Bank of England
1690 Massachusetts issues bills of credit Early Western government paper linked to future taxes and fiscal redemption Smithsonian
1775 Continental Congress begins Continental emissions Revolutionary paper exposes the importance of tax authority, political survival, and counterfeiting Massachusetts Historical Society
December 1789 France authorizes assignats linked to nationalized lands Begins as public debt/asset-linked finance, not unbacked fiat Citéco
April–October 1790 Assignats become legal tender and lose interest feature Marks transition from land-linked debt toward circulating fiat paper Citéco
2 April 1792 U.S. Coinage Act Establishes federal mint and statutory bimetallic dollar GovInfo, 1 Stat. 246
27 February 1797 Britain begins Bank Restriction Bank of England stops ordinary gold payment during war; temporary fiat-like operation Bank of England
1816 Britain’s Coinage Act establishes the sovereign/gold standard Consolidates gold as the principal metallic standard Bank of England historical review
1821 Britain resumes cash payments Ends the restriction-era fiat-like interval Bank of England historical review
1844 Bank Charter Act Formally constrains Bank of England note issue while deposits remain outside one-for-one gold backing Bank of England
25 February 1862 First U.S. Legal Tender Act Creates nonconvertible legal-tender United States Notes—greenbacks GovInfo, 12 Stat. 345
12 February 1873 U.S. Coinage Act omits standard silver dollar Later “Crime of 1873”; intensifies gold-versus-silver politics Official U.S. Statutes references
14 January 1875 Specie Payment Resumption Act Sets greenback coin redemption for 1879 GovInfo historical report
28 February 1878 Bland–Allison Act Restores mandatory federal silver purchases and coinage GovInfo
1 January 1879 United States resumes specie payments Ends the greenback’s nonconvertible phase Juilliard v. Greenman record
14 July 1890 Sherman Silver Purchase Act Expands Treasury silver purchases before 1893 repeal GovInfo reference, 26 Stat. 289
14 March 1900 U.S. Gold Standard Act Formally declares gold dollar standard and parity policy GovInfo
August 1914 Major powers suspend or restrict gold conversion as World War I begins Classical gold standard gives way to wartime controls and fiat-like operation NBER gold-standard research
1922 Genoa Conference promotes gold-exchange standard Reserve currencies supplement gold in attempted restoration NBER Working Paper 7186
1925 Britain returns to gold at prewar parity Restores convertibility under a politically and economically altered system NBER interwar gold research
21 September 1931 Britain leaves gold Major break in the interwar standard and a turning point in Depression policy Bank of England historical material
6–9 March 1933 U.S. bank holiday and Emergency Banking Act Restructures banking and gold control during crisis Federal Reserve History
5 April 1933 Executive Order 6102 Requires delivery of most private monetary gold, subject to exemptions American Presidency Project
20 April 1933 U.S. formally restricts gold exports and redemption Ends ordinary domestic gold convertibility Federal Reserve History
30–31 January 1934 Gold Reserve Act and $35 gold proclamation Transfers monetary gold to Treasury and devalues dollar in gold terms Federal Reserve History; GovInfo proclamation
1–22 July 1944 Bretton Woods conference Creates fixed-but-adjustable dollar-centered system and postwar institutions FRASER proceedings
27 December 1945 IMF Articles enter into force Provides legal institution for postwar exchange-rate system Federal Reserve History
1 November 1961 London Gold Pool begins Central banks coordinate to defend official $35 gold price Federal Reserve History
March 1968 London Gold Pool collapses; two-tier market created Official and private gold prices separate Federal Reserve History
15 August 1971 Nixon suspends official dollar-gold convertibility Ends Bretton Woods’ central redemption promise Nixon address
18 December 1971 Smithsonian Agreement Attempts fixed-rate repair without restored gold conversion IMF history
March 1973 Major currencies move to generalized floating Practical beginning of the modern major-currency exchange-rate order IMF history
January 1976 Jamaica agreements Members agree to reform IMF rules and gold’s official role IMF historical materials
1 April 1978 IMF Second Amendment takes effect Legally consolidates exchange-arrangement freedom and reduced official role of gold IMF
17 October 1983 Hong Kong Linked Exchange Rate System begins Demonstrates a fiat currency board anchored to another fiat currency HKMA
1989 New Zealand adopts formal inflation targeting Starts a major shift in fiat monetary-policy governance Riksbank Economic Review 2025
May 1997 Bank of England receives operational monetary-policy independence Illustrates delegated instrument independence within a democratic mandate Bank of England
1 January 1999 Euro launched for accounting and electronic use Creates multinational fiat unit with one central bank and multiple fiscal states ECB
1 January 2002 Euro notes and coins introduced Completes public cash changeover ECB
2008–2009 Major central banks deploy large-scale asset purchases Expands fiat-policy toolkit under near-zero rates and market stress Federal Reserve historical materials
20 October 2020 Bahamas begins national Sand Dollar release Early nationwide retail CBDC Central Bank of The Bahamas
November 2023 ECB digital-euro preparation phase begins Moves from investigation into rulebook and technical preparation without an issuance decision ECB
18 July 2025 U.S. GENIUS Act signed Establishes federal framework for payment stablecoins tied to fiat reserves U.S. Treasury
22 August 2025 BIS publishes 2024 CBDC survey Reports 91% of 93 responding central banks exploring retail and/or wholesale CBDC BIS Papers No. 159
July 2026 ECB releases draft digital-euro rulebook v0.91 Shows advanced design work but remains nonbinding and not an issuance decision ECB