• Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    The price of gold fluctuates though. And it could potentially devalue significantly if a new source is discovered or a new method of mining or extracting it (such as filtering it from seawater) is developed.

    So yes, if you have a tonne of gold, you will always have that tonne, but it could lose, say, 20% of its value quickly.

    • Spendrill@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      1 year ago

      It could indeed and has done so in the past. But the thing about it is that the price always recovers because people believe it will always be valuable. It’s the belief that endures and because people will always pay for what they believe to be valuable the value of gold as a currency endures. Also the retail value of gold remains high as the single largest application is jewellery Source page So there’s a conflation of the value of the labour that goes into making jewellery, adding value and in some cases the value of the piece will take that gold permanently out of circulation for use as currency e.g. the Mask of Agamemnon