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Comment by assface | Hacker News Reader

Gold has material use. You can make things with it.

Okay, but the value of gold has basically zero relationship to it's industrial or commercial uses, so that isn't really relevant here.

Gold is also the most reasonable element to use as a store of value. It isn't very reactive or radioactive, so it's stable for long periods of time, it's a solid at room temperature, it's not hazardous to human health, it's easily manipulated and formed, and it's not super abundant but also not super rare. Silver is the only other element that comes close, and it tarnishes.

There could be some value attributed to being able to use gold as a store of value and currency in the event of a dissolution of modern society such that the internet or widespread electricity is no longer around.

Sure, but this is based on the idea that the innate uses and value of gold would be similar (or "relatively high") after such a transformation of the world. This is not clear to me at all, compared to say, a similar wealth invested into a large cache of firearms and ammo. Or whatever will happen to be useful, depending on the scenario.

It reminds me of an anecdote from my grandfather from the end of WW2, people were giving away gold rings for loaves of bread. (Clearly, only when in desperate need, but it did happen.)

Firearms and ammo are a necessity, but one person/small tribe can only defend against so many others. What you really need is a community (or bigger tribe) that will come to your aid, and the community will need to be able to trade between themselves and others, which is where gold comes in.

In that situation, the inability to eat it or shoot something with it is probably going to make gold/silver pretty close to worthless as well until society re-exists.

Even if the US government ceases to exist, the features of non reproducibility built into cash dollars (watermarks, intaglio printing) would still exist although they won't be as ultimately durable into the future as an element. At least you can also use them as fire starters.

Paper money has a lower bound of material value equal to $(toilet paper - utility value for the comfort of toilet paper over a dollar bill) per square inch.

By that point you're going to have bigger things to worry about, like where to get fresh water and go to bathroom.

And people with guns are going to quickly steal your gold anyway.

Then why don't we all use gold as payment?

We used to (indirectly at least) until 1971 when the US went off the gold standard in order to not be bankrupted by the Vietnam war

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