Originally Posted By: Kart29
They have value because of their inherent utility and resistance to decay. Precious metals are valued because of the substance's natural properties.

I dunno. Gold is pretty and resistant to corrosion, but is it really THAT valuable? I think it is only considered valuable because it is useful, resistant to decay and scarse.

Kingdoms of old didn't seek gold so that they could make pretty things for the queen or weapons or food.

No one dreams of striking a huge deposit of gold on his land so that he can make things out of it.

Originally Posted By: Kart29
Modern currencies and other forms of paper wealth hold value ONLY because of the external value placed on them by others - not because of any properties within the bills themselves.

I guess I can agree with that. Absent its value as legal tender, a dollar bill has only the value of an durable piece of paper that has already been written on. On the other hand, a dollar gold coin is a piece of metal that might be useful or might be valued again some day.
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