The gold system started to break down during the Second World War when European powers printed more money than they had in gold reserves to fund military projects. The financial crisis of 1933, during ...

The greenback was formally made the world's reserve currency in 1944 as a result of the Bretton Woods Agreement, a status that sterling had previously held. The timeline then fast forwards to 1971.

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the British pound reigned as the world's reserve currency. In the twentieth century, the U.S. dollar laid claim to this title. In fact, it has been ...