FIAT MONEY, irredeemable money issued and made legal by Government order (fiat) but not secured by a gold or silver or other adequate reserve. It is usually paper but may also con sist of coins of baser metals whose metallic content is worth far less than their face value. The issue of fiat money tends to cause the withdrawal from circulation of sound money and a great inflation of prices in terms of the unsecured currency. Fiat money was issued freely in the United States during the Revolutionary War and the Civil War periods. The "greenbacks" of the Civil War period were fiat money but under the Specie Resumption Act of 1875 were made redeemable and thus became real money.