gold certificate

American  

noun

1. a former U.S. paper currency issued by the federal government for circulation from 1865 to 1933, equal to and redeemable for gold to a stated value.

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gold certificate British  

noun

1. a currency note issued exclusively to the Federal Reserve Banks by the US Treasury. It forms a claim on gold reserves deposited by the Federal Reserve Banks at the Treasury and is used to transfer interbank balances within the Federal Reserve System

2. Also called: gold note.  (formerly) a banknote issued by the US Treasury to the public and redeemable in gold

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Etymology

Origin of gold certificate

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65

Example Sentences

A detective tapped him for weapons, found a "hot" $20 gold certificate.

From Time Magazine Archive

A torn bank-note means a change of position for the man in the box-office, while a gold certificate, strange to say, is a sign of bad luck.

From The Scrap Book, Volume 1, No. 1 March 1906 by Various

The process in which this and other Federal Reserve Banks have been engaged is the substitution, as a circulating medium, of a note which is elastic in quality for the inelastic gold certificate.

From Readings in Money and Banking Selected and Adapted by Phillips, Chester Arthur

From the point of view of cover, the gold certificate is completely inelastic.

From Readings in Money and Banking Selected and Adapted by Phillips, Chester Arthur

He paused and withdrew from his pocket a small tin box, and opening it, disclosed a handful of ashes and the half of a United States gold certificate for ten thousand dollars.

From The Challenge of the North by Hendryx, James B. (James Beardsley)