Demand for gold primarily was due to trade with Asia. The problem wasn't that people didn't have gold to trade in their local communities. Local economies rarel

Demand for gold primarily was due to trade with Asia. The problem wasn't that people didn't have gold to trade in their local communities. Local economies rarely relied on coinage during this time. They use an informal credit system on the small scales (like IOUs). The Asian thirst for precious metals was driven by high internal use of coinage where for Europe, it was mostly to buy things from Asia. As the European gold balances dropped, they sought other sources from Africa and later from the Americas to continue trade. You can learn more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Bullion_Famine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Bullion_Famine If you're really interested, I recommend "Debt" by David Graeber