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True, but if you break down the value of gold then it's maybe a dollar an ounce from practical uses and 1500 dollars an ounce from the fact that it's a seven-th
by hugh3 15y ago
True, but if you break down the value of gold then it's maybe a dollar an ounce from practical uses and 1500 dollars an ounce from the fact that it's a seven-thouand-year-old asset bubble.
Or, to put it another way, suppose tomorrow I figure out a way to replace gold with some much cheaper tin-copper alloy in all its industrial applications. That's not gonna decrease the value of gold all that much. (Note that I don't really count jewellery as an industrial application -- gold is used in jewellery because it's valuable, not because it looks any prettier than other metals).
- javert 15y agogold is used in jewellery because it's valuable, not because it looks any prettier than other metals I'm not so sure about that. Gold is used in jewelry because (a) it looks cooler than silver/tin/copper/etc.; and (b) because it is really rare. So I'm proposing the chain is: Looks good & rare -> Valuable I think if you were missing either "looks good for jewelry" OR "rare", it wouldn't be valuable and it wouldn't work as a medium of exchange. This is a historical perspective. These days you could also use: Used in industrial applications & rare -> Valuable but I doubt that would drive the value of it up to where my former hypothesis does, if it's right.
- ohashi 15y agoLook at Platinum. More expensive than gold, largely commercial use (jewelry is about 25%).
- regularfry 15y agoAlso comparatively harder to work than gold.
- bhickey 15y agoGold is used in jewelry because: * It is malleable * It is resistant to corrosion/tarnish
- javert 15y agoThe thing that makes it most unique WRT jewelry is that it's pretty. It's easy to make jewelry out of wood, glass, and lots of other things.