Elly Knapp was the daughter of the renowned economist Georg Friedrich Knapp (1842–1926), the founder of the chartalist school of monetary theory, who taught at the University of Strasbourg.
Constantina Katsari has argued that principles from both metallism and chartalism were reflected in the monetary system introduced by Augustus, which was used in the eastern provinces of Roman Empire, from the early 1st century to the late 3rd century AD.