back when bank notes were backed by gold. you could never swap a bank note for the true value of gold. firstly the exchanger would look at the speculated price, then the local spot price for the area and add on their own admin fee.
Another guy that wants to "invent" what "backed by" means. If the US Dollar is BACKED by gold, then the exchange rate is set by the US Treasury, 1 dollar for certain amount of gold. In effect, U.S Dollar price no longer fluctuates against gold; because for every dollar, there is an equivalent amount of gold kept at Ft. Knox. What is all this mumble jumble about speculated price and local spot price and admin fee??? What the heck are you talking about? Are you talking about today's U.S. Dollar? The US Dollar has been off the gold standard since the 1970s, aka US dollar is not backed by gold anymore. In fact, no currency is backed by gold anymore in today's world.