This is how fiat currencies die. There's a short book (out of copyright, free to download) that explains exactly how it happened in revolutionary France: https://mises.org/library/fiat-money-inflation-franceThe purpose of banning gold notes and banning the private ownership of significant amounts of gold was to preserve confidence in the US dollar. It worked, at least to a degree.
Without the bans, it seems probable that the US dollar would have collapsed and that physical gold, and privately issued "banknotes" backed (allegedly) by gold would have taken over.
The problem is confidence itself. Once people start doubting the future of a fiat currency, it is usually doomed. It does not matter how hard the authorities try to secure that confidence. For example, in revolutionary France a law was passed such that when any sort of transaction was about to take place, if a person asked the question "What currency will this transaction take place in?", the penalty was death by guillotine. But it still didn't work, and the reason was that the very existence of such a law erodes confidence even more. You cannot force people to have confidence in a failing fiat currency by passing laws. It's like trying to legislate against the laws of physics.
Fiat currencies always fail in the end, and the thing that always kills them off is the existence of gold and silver bullion, whether it is freely traded with the price going to the moon, or whether it is prohibited. This time really is different, but only because we have a global system of fiat currencies floating electronically against each other.
Currently at an all time high of £1555/$2040.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53660052
My prediction is that the price of gold is eventually going to go much higher, and at some point there will have to some sort of major restructuring of the whole system. If so, that moment will surely be a critical turning point in the process of global collapse - it will be the beginning of the end of globalisation as we know it.Gold has topped $2,000 (£1,527) an ounce for the first time as traders look for havens amid the pandemic.
Investors have moved cash into the precious metal as Covid-19 cases rise in the US and more money is pumped into the global economy.
The record high gold price has also been driven by concerns over tensions between Washington and Beijing.