Commodity, Money, Currency, Super Sovereign Currency

Money vs. Currency

Money, a broad concept, refers to anything widely accepted as a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account. Importantly, money does not have to be issued by a government. Salt, gold, and cocoa have all been used as money, for example.

Currency, on the other hand, is a specific, tangible form of money—such as coins and cash—issued by a government and used as legal tender within an economy.

Commodity as money; Commodity-backed currency as money

Cocoa beans served as money in Mayan and Aztec civilizations for hundreds of years. Eventually, another commodity replaced cocoa beans as money in the Americas: Spanish government-issued silver and gold coins. These coins were both a commodity (precious metal) and a currency, as they were issued by a government and used in trade.

Commodity-backed, Super-sovereign Currency as money

The Spanish “peso de ocho” (piece of eight) silver coin became the world’s first truly global currency. For nearly 400 years, commodity-backed currencies such as silver and gold coins circulated around the world. Their precious metal content guaranteed their value, enabling cross-border transactions.
Because these coins could be used in markets worldwide and their value was not subject to the monetary policy of any single nation, gold and silver coins functioned as "super-sovereign currency." Their value was above the control of any one government.

Commodity-backed, sovereign currency

A "commodity-backed currency," in the strict sense, means the currency can be freely exchanged for a specific amount of a commodity. For example, at one point, a dollar could be exchanged for one ounce of silver at a bank.

Money(?)--Currency not backed by commodity

Today, nearly every sovereign nation uses fiat currency, meaning its value does not come from a commodity. The value of modern paper currency comes from a government’s support for it in the marketplace. Governments attempt to provide price stability, economic growth, and they guarantee the currency’s usability in all kinds of financial transactions. However, this promise of value does not necessarily extend beyond national borders. For instance, Mexican pesos are seldom accepted as money in Canada, because the guarantee of purchasing power only exists within Mexico.
Since 1971, only governments issue money and that money is not commodity backed. Most transactions now use government-issued currency, such as the US dollar, Belizean dollar, or Mexican peso. There are rare exceptions: in some Venezuelan mining towns, most transactions use gold; some people still barter; and Bitcoin can be used for goods and services in certain settings. However, the vast majority of transactions utilize government-issued currency. Currently, there are no super-sovereign currencies—a rare anomaly in the history of currency.
The world began using fiat currencies in 1971, when the US dollar transitioned away from being commodity-backed. Since then, world currencies have not been freely redeemable for gold.

Eliminating super-sovereign currency: a side effect of leaving the gold standard

Now, there are no super-sovereign currencies. However, a "super-sovereign reserve asset" does exist: the Special Drawing Right (SDR) issued by the International Monetary Fund. SDRs store value, are not controlled by a single sovereign government, and can be exchanged as a unit of account by different government offices around the world.
SDRs are derivative assets based on a basket of currencies and have no direct sovereign backing. These "super-sovereign" features were essential for global commerce for centuries, but, conspicuously, do not exist in modern finance.