gold standard

plural gold standards

1. economicsA monetary system where the value of circulating money is linked to the value of gold.

   In countries that accepted the gold standard, currency could be exchanged at a bank for a fixed weight of gold.

   2002, Philip Ball, The Elements: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, published 2004, page 57

2. figurativelyThe highest or most reliable benchmark against which all others in a category are judged or measured.

   The OED is the gold standard for English dictionaries.

   1 more example

   YC’s gold standard for revenue growth is ten per cent a week, which compounds to 142x a year.

   2016 October 3, Tad Friend, “Sam Altman’s Manifest Destiny”, in The New Yorker