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Gold – A Brief History of Gold Backed United States Currency
by John Spietz |
Gold – A Brief History of Gold Backed United States Currency
Gold has no intrinsic value. It only has value because we all agree it has value. As humans became “civilized,” the need for an intermediary device for transferring value became apparent. The intermediate device can be anything that the community agrees represents a certain value—a currency. The ideal currency will meet certain requirements, including at least being durable and transferable. Anything that a community agrees on for holding value will work.
Gold has no intrinsic value. It only has value because we all agree it has value. As humans became “civilized,” the need for an intermediary device for transferring value became apparent. The intermediate device can be anything that the community agrees represents a certain value—a currency. The ideal currency will meet certain requirements, including at least being durable and transferable. Anything that a community agrees on for holding value will work.
On Yap Island in the western Pacific Ocean, value is stored in certain (usually) calcite donut-shaped stones. They range in size from about 12 feet in diameter and weighing 8,800 pounds to about 1-1/2” in diameter. The larger stones do not move as ownership changes—everyone in the community knows who owns the value through a shared oral history. (To read the entire essay, click on the calcite stone image.)