> Has there been a widely accepted currency (true currency) that hasn't had military might behind it? Yes, even today, for example, Costa Rica has no military

> Has there been a widely accepted currency (true currency) that hasn't had military might behind it? Yes, even today, for example, Costa Rica has no military yet they have their own currency. Its Central Bank manipulates its value by buying and selling the currency in the free market, which is what many countries do nowadays (although not always by the same mechanisms). > Has there been a dramatic military failure that hasn't been followed by currency decline? Yes, unless by "dramatic military failure" you mean having their economy destroyed, at which point of course the currency fails, but that's because economy destruction leads to currency failure regardless of any military defeats. However, the better question is: has any country with a strong military ever had its currency fail without any military defeat? And the answer is yes, plenty, which proves that having a strong military has nothing to do with having a stable currency. Let's say your currency starts to fail (say, due to hyperinflation)... what is the government going to do with the military to prevent the collapse? Order them to intimidate the market?! That's a completely ridiculous proposition...