Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="woodelf" data-source="post: 2830094" data-attributes="member: 10201">Actually, it is arguable that precious metals became the dominant currency in so many places and for so long precisely because they didn't have much (or any) utility value. You can't do anything else with your gold, so you may as well trade it. Something that has intrinsic value, you have to decide whether to use it, or trade it. Similarly, more sophisticated currencies (such as traditional chinese money), as well as all modern currencies, are divorced from direct utility, in part so that they have no non-monetary value to contend with. The other big virtue of gold & silver is that they are not merely non-biodegradable, but essentially inert. If you have an ounce of gold today, you still have an ounce of gold in a hundred years, unless you try really hard. The same cannot be said of most other currencies or possible currencies. Oh, and of course, don't underestimate the rarity value of precious metals. Another impetus to them becoming first de-facto currencies, and then actual currencies was precisely the fact that there wasn't enough to go around.</blockquote>