Question

Under the gold standard, what was the amount of gold in a U.S. dollar and a British pound?

1) One-fifth of an ounce in a U.S. dollar and one ounce in a British pound
2) One ounce in a U.S. dollar and one-fifth of an ounce in a British pound
3) One-fifth of an ounce in both a U.S. dollar and a British pound
4) One ounce in both a U.S. dollar and a British pound

Answer 1

4) One ounce in both a U.S. dollar and a British pound.

Step-by-step explanation:

During the time when the gold standard was in place, the value of a currency was directly tied to a fixed amount of gold. This meant that the currency could be exchanged for its equivalent value in gold.

In the case of the U.S. dollar and the British pound, both currencies were backed by gold, and the value of each currency was determined by the amount of gold it represented. Both the U.S. dollar and the British pound were defined to be equal to one ounce of gold.

Answer 2

Under the gold standard, the U.S. dollar contained approximately thirty-fifth of an ounce of gold, while the British pound contained historically about one-fourth of an ounce of gold.

Step-by-step explanation:

Under the gold standard, the amount of gold in a U.S. dollar was set at one ounce per 35 U.S. dollars. This means that each U.S. dollar was equivalent to approximately one thirty-fifth of an ounce of gold. Specifically, according to the gold standard, classic pre-1933 dollars were about 1.5 grams or .04837 troy ounces of gold. For the British pound, the amount of gold was historically set at 113 grains of pure gold, which is approximately .2874 troy ounces or about one-fourth of an ounce. Therefore, neither of the options provided in the question is entirely correct. However, the closest to the accurate historical rates of exchange between gold and the respective currencies would be option 1, with the U.S. dollar containing less gold than the British pound.