gold standard

English Thesaurus

1. a paragon of excellence (noun.cognition)

hypernym	:	beau ideal, idol, paragon, perfection,
definition	:	an ideal instance; a perfect embodiment of a concept (noun.cognition)

2. a monetary standard under which the basic unit of currency is defined by a stated quantity of gold (noun.possession)

hypernym	:	monetary standard, standard,
definition	:	the value behind the money in a monetary system (noun.possession)