When people buy gold, many seem to have the misconception that the US dollar is backed by gold. Well ... it used to be. The US currency, like many other currencies at the time, was backed by physical gold kept in Fort Knox and other places.
In 1933 the US abandoned the Gold standard along with many other nations, such as Italy in '34, Belgium in '35 and others during the 1930s. Switzerland was one of the last countries to drop the gold standard and this was done in 1999 by the approval of a new constitution that eliminated the traditional requirement for the country's currency to be backed by gold.
