The use of gold in the making of coins for common currency is a practice dating back countless years. In more recent time the international exchange value of gold has increased so substantially, and token currency (fiat money) of paper has become so widely accepted, that the need to use precious metals in the minting of coins has virtually disappeared.
Gold coins are now principally the province of investors and collectors. Some of those once in current usage and now collected are, the sovereign, the guinea, the noble, the angel, etc. Their worth is a combination of both intrinsic and scarcity value. In England, at various time in recent history exchange controls have restricted the holding of gold coins to licensed dealers and banks.