For anyone interested in understanding what money is, and the downside of commodity money without a central bank, Allyn Young wrote this[1] in 1924[2]. It talks about the gold standard, bi-metalism and decentralized banking that was taking place in the US in the XIXth century.

[1] https://fr.scribd.com/document/251483136/The-Mystery-of-Mone... [2] it's just 11 years after the creation of the Fed. He had a good understanding of what is a financial system without a central bank.