Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan offers a mixed assessment of gold's importance in the global monetary system.

"The broader issue — a return to the gold standard in any form — is nowhere on anybody's horizon," he writes in Foreign Affairs. "It has few supporters in today's virtually universal embrace of fiat currencies and floating exchange rates."

But that doesn't mean the precious metal carries no significance, Greenspan says.

"Gold has special properties that no other currency, with the possible exception of silver, can claim. For more than two millennia, gold has had virtually unquestioned acceptance as payment," he explains. "It has never required the credit guarantee of a third party."

The fact that central banks hold hefty quantities of gold is meaningful, Greenspan writes. "If the dollar or any other fiat currency were universally acceptable at all times, central banks would see no need to hold any gold," he notes.

"The fact that they do indicates that such currencies are not a universal substitute."

Gold fell below $1,300 an ounce Friday for the first time since Dec. 31 after a stronger-than-expected September jobs report. December gold futures traded at $1,211.60 Tuesday midday on the Comex, up $4.30 from Monday.

Non-farm payrolls climbed 248,000 last month, and the unemployment rate fell to a six-year low of 5.9 percent.

"Strengthening payrolls are going to add to the perception that the Fed is going to raise rates sooner," Charlie Bilello, director of research at Pension Partners, told Bloomberg. "The perception is that a more hawkish Fed is negative for gold."

Goldman Sachs predicts gold will drop to $1,050 within a year, thanks to stronger U.S. economic growth.

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