[HN Gopher] Why does gold have value?
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       Why does gold have value?
        
       Author : yamrzou
       Score  : 20 points
       Date   : 2021-02-14 19:50 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (money.stackexchange.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (money.stackexchange.com)
        
       | spurdoman77 wrote:
       | Why do jelly dildos have value?
        
       | flave wrote:
       | There are a few of unique-ish features of Gold that what caused
       | it to become a trading lingua-franca. It seems that that long
       | history plays a really important role in today's value of Gold.
       | It explains a big part of the 'semantic value' - although I
       | appreciate there are other contemporary reasons for its value.
       | 
       | These features are `unique ish` in the sense that they're not
       | unique alone to gold, but their combination with the items
       | mentioned in the thread grant them particular functionality as an
       | intermediary asset for trading.
       | 
       | * Fungible. There are early methods for detecting and measuring
       | purity (Late Egyptians I believe) which means that one unit of
       | gold is obviously interchangeable with another unit. Not the case
       | for jewels, livestock, crafts.
       | 
       | * Divisible. Two pieces of one unit can be combined to make two
       | units. Two units can be split to make one unit. Again, better
       | than jewels, livestock, slaves, crafts.
       | 
       | * Portable/durable. Small, light, dry, durable. Much better than
       | oil, water, stone (these were used on some pacific islands).
       | 
       | * Distinct. With a small handful of exceptions which weren't
       | readily available in pre-industrial revolution, there's nothing
       | that looks and behaves like gold. Jewels, metals, crafts all
       | gonna fail this.
       | 
       | * Persistent. A lot of other metal candidates are going to fail
       | this test.
       | 
       | Does anyone have any knowledge about whether Gold use spread like
       | other ideas or if there was convergent discovery all over the
       | world?
        
         | yamrzou wrote:
         | > It seems that that long history plays a really important role
         | in today's value of Gold. It explains a big part of the
         | 'semantic value'.
         | 
         | Indeed. Would the 'semantic value' alone without the other
         | features be enough for gold to be that valuable?
         | 
         | History starts at some point. If so, does that mean Bitcoin
         | could be as valuable in the long run (provided that the
         | Internet infranstruture doesn't collapse and governments don't
         | ban it) ?
        
           | bustin wrote:
           | I think divisibility will get in the way eventually. What
           | happens when over a period of 200 years enough keys are lost
           | to where there are only 10 million Satoshis left in active
           | circulation?
           | 
           | Surely by then people will move over to a new chain, be it a
           | fork of bitcoin or a different one entirely with new
           | features, and history will have to begin anew.
           | 
           | There are billions of ounces of gold out there, and ounces
           | can be subdivided as small as technology will allow without
           | any one else having to agree to a protocol change.
        
             | BenjiWiebe wrote:
             | Then the unit that clients display and transfer will be nS
             | (nano satoshis). Afaik, it's a very minor update to allow
             | more decimal places.
        
               | [deleted]
        
               | capableweb wrote:
               | > Afaik, it's a very minor update to allow X
               | 
               | Said every software developer ever, shortly before
               | realizing that an entire ecosystem has been built upon X
               | and any change would have to ripple through what is now
               | our global financial system.
        
       | thedudeabides5 wrote:
       | Gold has had value for as long as boys have been trying to
       | impress gals with shiny things.
       | 
       | So, pretty much since we invented fire.
       | 
       | Name another asset that's protected purchasing power that long...
        
       | haunter wrote:
       | Why does Bitcoin have value?
        
         | SideburnsOfDoom wrote:
         | Does it?
        
           | idiocrat wrote:
           | What would be the difference between an Intrinsic Value and a
           | Price Tag of BC and AU?
        
       | naveen99 wrote:
       | Why do paper stock certificates have value ?
        
       | aksss wrote:
       | I watch a lot of Time Team/Digging for Britain, every time I see
       | gold come out of the earth after 1000 years looking relatively
       | uncorrupted, I think *oh, yeah. Well that's something that stands
       | out about that mineral". I generally place zero value in gold
       | jewelry and such, but I did notice something the first time I
       | held a solid gold coin - sounds silly but uh, gold lust is a
       | thing, your inner-Gollum awakens just a little. The metaphor of
       | putting people under a spell is apt. Still not interested in the
       | bling, but it's a fascinating material.
        
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