Trading in forex market does not necessarily involve an exchange.

Hence,
the trading goes on the over-the-counter market (OTC market henceforth).
Major foreign currency trading centers are located in London, Tokyo, New
York. As the markets remain open at different time on a given day,
normally GMT is used to refer the trading hours at different locations.
Since time immemorial, commodity money was used during barter system.
From a wide variety of commodities, gold, silver, silk and bronze became
standardized commodity money.
During 17th century, countries and kingdoms started using coins as the
medium of exchange. These coins had their own intrinsic value that was
not related to any commodity.
Normally coins were made up gold, silver or bronze. Some other unusual
materials like stone and limestone and slate were also used. Can anyone
imagine -- Coins were traded weighing 8800 lbs!

 During 1944, Bretton Woods Agreement system came into existence. The
Bretton Woods Conference of 1944 established an international fixed
exchange rate regime in which currencies were pegged to the US Dollar,
which in turn was based on the gold standard. Bretton Woods agreement
is considered as the most important economic and political
accomplishment of the cold ware era. Gavin (1996) in paper titled The
legends of Bretton Woods noted Bretton woods is the most revered
name in international monetary history, perhaps in economic history.
As part of the agreement, from 1944 till 1971 , different countries
permitted the exchange rates to vary within a narrow band. Central
governments needed to intervene in the forex market regularly to keep the
exchange rate within the band. However, this led to substantial imbalances
in the forex rates i.e, some currencies became undervalued and some
became overvalued. However significant changes have happened during
1971 During 1944, Bretton Woods Agreement system came into existence.