The U.S. Republican Party will call next week for a commission to examine the possibility of returning the American currency to the gold standard.

According to multiple published reports, a draft of the Republican Party's platform to be unveiled at the party's convention in Tampa, Fla., next week will include the creation of a "gold commission" tasked with examining the feasibility of tying the value of the U.S. dollar to a fixed price of a unit of gold in the country's official reserves.

Drafts of the document obtained by the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal and other sources call for an audit of the way the Federal Reserve implements the country's monetary policy. Included in that would be a look at the possibility of tying the greenback to the value of gold.

President Richard Nixon abolished the gold standard in 1971 and the value of the U.S. dollar has floated since then, with its value depending on economic factors such as exports, inflows of cash, interest rates, inflation and employment.

The issue hasn't been on the national political radar since the early 1980s, when the Republicans under Ronald Reagan created a committee "to consider the feasibility of a metallic basis for U.S. currency" — a proposal that was roundly rejected at the time.

Romney lukewarm to plan

A gold standard would likely make the currency more volatile. In inflation-adjusted U.S. dollar terms, the value of gold has increased more than five-fold over the past decade.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney expressed lukewarm support for the idea of the gold standard in January, early in his campaign, when he was still trying to rally support from all sides for his nomination.

"I'm happy to look at a whole range of ideas on how to have greater stability in our currency and in our monetary policies," he told television network CNBC at the time. "I know that in the past when we had a gold standard, the idea that somehow it was detached from or free from any interference by Congress was simply wrong because even with the gold standard someone has to decide what is the conversion rate between the gold and the dollar."

The commission would have no official power or ability to dictate policy beyond bringing topics forward to be discussed by the party's central brass. But the return of gold to the national political discussion is a testament to the new popularity of the libertarian movement within the Republican party.

Libertarians favour small government, drastically reduced social programs, sharp tax reductions and a return to more traditional economic standards instead of the obscure financial instruments of today.

Former presidential hopeful Rep. Ron Paul of Texas has been a strong proponent of a return to the gold standard, and a vocal critic of most Federal Reserve policies.

Bernanke questioned

Although Romney has distanced himself for some of the most extreme libertarian policies, late Thursday he made the controversial suggestion that he might not renominate Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke when the latter's term ends in January 2014.

Speaking to the Fox Business U.S. TV channel, Romney said, "I always listen to people who have counsel and advice but my view has been that I would want to select someone who is … a new person to that chairman position, someone who shared my economic views, was sympathetic to the needs of our nation and I want to make sure the Federal Reserve focuses on maintaining the monetary stability that leads to a strong dollar and confidence that America is not going to go down the road that other nations have gone down to their peril."