You might be able to bribe the ticket taker or border guard with gold, which you can't do with items like food and meds that have lower value-density and less l

You might be able to bribe the ticket taker or border guard with gold, which you can't do with items like food and meds that have lower value-density and less liquidity. IOW it's more useful when human systems and group behavior are the source of the trouble...which is usually.