Gold is both a great store of value (dense, does not degrade, easy to store) and a reasonable medium of exchange (small amounts can cover most transactions, but

Gold is both a great store of value (dense, does not degrade, easy to store) and a reasonable medium of exchange (small amounts can cover most transactions, but hard to verify amounts and purity) so I think it's quite likely that it will retain value in the event of social collapse. Recall that gold was a medium of exchange in the west and Asia for thousands of years before it had industrial value. The other commodities you listed would certainly be important, but the problem is they don't do well on one or both of the dimensions above. Another big issue is that you sort of want some generic means of exchange that doesn't address a specific need. Sure, you'll probably need all the things you listed at one point or another, but what if you already have enough bullets, antiseptic, etc? You can hold on to it to trade, but what if the next person doesn't need it either? You don't need to immediately use gold but it's likely that the next guy you deal with will trade for it because he knows he can trade with it too.