In the 19th century, Britain adopted the gold standard, while British India operated under the silver standard. At that time, many people believed that both gold and silver could serve as currency, but as large quantities of silver were mined in the Americas and elsewhere, the global supply of silver increased rapidly, causing the price of silver to fall steadily relative to gold. As a result, the Indian rupee, which was denominated in silver, continuously depreciated, impacting trade, fiscal matters, and international payments. Eventually, India had to abandon the silver standard and gradually shift toward a currency system linked to gold.

In *The Future of Money*, Saifedean Ammous uses this case to illustrate that monetary competition is not only competition among nations, but also competition among different monetary properties. In the long run, "soft currencies" with faster supply growth often struggle to prevail over "hard currencies" with more stable supply and stronger scarcity.