In the early 20th century, people were interested in replacing gold or the dollar with "the energy dollar” or “units of energy.” The concept was popular due to its sound money characteristics. The flaw? It could not be transmitted or stored easily. from Bitcoin

https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn83030214/1921-12-04/ed-1/?sp=1&r=0.104,0.174,0.239,0.333,0