The Continental dollar was a fiat currency and it suffered severely from inflation, giving rise to the phrase ‘not worth a Continental’.
When Hamilton organized the Treasury he took on the accumulated debt of the Continental government. The United States would pay interest on its debt in gold, but would accept as payment for taxes either gold or paper money. This had the effect of driving the depreciated American currency to parity with gold. The policy strengthened the finances of the United States, and provided it with a funded public debt that gave it a money supply much larger than the amount of specie available to it.
Now, having long read your criticisms of the fallacy of gold, I’m certain you will be able to give us an erudite critique of where Alexander Hamilton went wrong.
I think Hamilton was correct to do what he did.