Gold and gems backing the currency

1926

Zog accumulated gold coin and precious stones which were used to back Albania's first paper currency. The practice was a rational response to a state with no reserves and no credit, and it is also the origin of the treasure stories that follow him. The same hoard is what left the country with the royal family in April 1939. The distinction matters and is usually collapsed: the gold was state currency reserve, not personal treasure, which is precisely why its removal in 1939 damaged his reputation abroad.