1 Guinea – United Kingdom

In 1813, the United Kingdom was in the midst of the "Bank Restriction Period" (1797–1821), a defining era for its currency. The financial pressures of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars had led the government to suspend the convertibility of Bank of England notes into gold. This meant the pound sterling was no longer backed by a fixed quantity of bullion, becoming a fiat currency for the first time. The primary goal was to prevent a run on the Bank's gold reserves and to allow the government to finance its vast war expenditure through increased note issuance.

This suspension had significant consequences. The increased supply of paper money, combined with trade disruptions and poor harvests, contributed to inflation and a sharp depreciation in the pound's value against gold and on foreign exchanges. A lively public debate, known as the "Bullion Controversy," raged between the "Bullionists" (who argued inflation was caused by over-issuance of notes and demanded a swift return to gold convertibility) and the "Anti-Bullionists" (who believed the depreciation was due to extraordinary wartime factors like foreign remittances and harvest failures). The government, fearing a return to gold would restrict its financial flexibility, resisted change.

Thus, by 1813, Britain was operating with an inconvertible paper currency that had lost substantial value, causing economic strain and heated political-economic debate. The situation would persist until after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, with the official return to the gold standard not occurring until 1821, following the recommendations of a Parliamentary committee and the passage of Peel's Act in 1819.