&gt; Wouldn&#x27;t the gold standard render the entire notion of a &quot;reserve currency&quot; meaningless, too?<p>Yeah, it does. The more I think about it, the less sense that graph makes.<p>It&#x27;s not <i>entirely</i> meaningless because there are still benefits to being the reserve currency in a gold-backed world (e.g. cheaper cross-border transactions from not having to do any forex). But the biggest impact of being the reserve currency today is on monetary policy, which only makes sense in the context of fiat money.