Page "Gold standard" Paragraph 9

However, only in 1821, following the introduction of the gold sovereign coin by the new Royal Mint at Tower Hill in the year 1816, was the United Kingdom formally put on a gold specie standard, the first of the great industrial powers to do so.

Soon to follow was Canada in 1853, Newfoundland in 1865, and the USA and Germany de jure in 1873.

The USA used the Eagle as its unit, and Germany introduced the new gold mark, while Canada adopted a dual system based on both the American Gold Eagle and the British Gold Sovereign.