US gold certificates were first issued in 1863 and were legal currency redeemable with gold coins.
As the notes issued were mainly high denominations of $20, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 5,000, 10,000, then it can safely be concluded that these certificates were meant for interbank transactions and not everyday legal tender.
In 1933, the Gold Reserve Act was passed which made possession of gold certificates by an individual illegal.
Interestingly though the government issued a new series in 1934 one of which nwas the famous note of $100,000 which had the portrait of Woodrow Wilson on it. This must also have been purely for interbank fund transfers or else possession would have been illegal!
In 1964 the Gold reserve act was reversed and it was no longer illegal to own a gold certificate, but you could not redeem your certificate with gold still.
Today Gold Certificates are issued to certify investment in the actual metal.
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