3 ms·

In your blog post you assert that "Gold and silver were valuable 2000 years ago and are still valuable" but you never explain why. What properties does gold and

by Me1000 13y ago

In your blog post you assert that "Gold and silver were valuable 2000 years ago and are still valuable" but you never explain why. What properties does gold and silver has that makes them valuable?

Ologn 13y ago
Gold's use as a currency is apart from its use as a commodity. It makes a good currency for several reasons - it is durable, storable, standardized, portable, easily divisible. Beyond its use as a currency or as jewelery, I don't have much to say beyond what you could find at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Applications http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Applications . Dentists used to use it for crowns. It is used in photographic equipment. It is used in satellites. It is used in heat shielding. It is used in electronics. Before the industrial revolution, gold was not used for industrial uses all that much - instead of good china for the dining room, people who could afford it would have golden goblets to drink from and the like. This, plus the lack of industrial mining methods, is probably one of the reasons why it is estimated that 80% of the gold ever mined has been mined since 1910 ( http://www.goldsheetlinks.com/production2.htm http://www.goldsheetlinks.com/production2.htm ).
- snitko 13y ago
  You forgot that the supply of gold is limited. So if gold is durable, storable, standardized, portable, easily divisible and the supply is limited, then it's exactly like Bitcoin. Only gold is actually less portable, less durable, much less divisible and its supply is less limited than the supply of Bitcoin. Now tell me, what Bitcoin doesn't have that Gold has (except for the industrial use, which you admitted didn't event exist before the industrial revolution, and, frankly, can only be attributed to a fraction of actual gold's price)?
  - oleganza 13y ago
    Bitcoin can be used for secure timestamping and mutual funds locking without third parties. These are non-monetary features that Bitcoin provides. So it has some of them, just like gold.

by Me1000 13y ago

In your blog post you assert that "Gold and silver were valuable 2000 years ago and are still valuable" but you never explain why. What properties does gold and silver has that makes them valuable?

Ologn 13y ago

Gold's use as a currency is apart from its use as a commodity. It makes a good currency for several reasons - it is durable, storable, standardized, portable, easily divisible. Beyond its use as a currency or as jewelery, I don't have much to say beyond what you could find at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Applications http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Applications . Dentists used to use it for crowns. It is used in photographic equipment. It is used in satellites. It is used in heat shielding. It is used in electronics. Before the industrial revolution, gold was not used for industrial uses all that much - instead of good china for the dining room, people who could afford it would have golden goblets to drink from and the like. This, plus the lack of industrial mining methods, is probably one of the reasons why it is estimated that 80% of the gold ever mined has been mined since 1910 ( http://www.goldsheetlinks.com/production2.htm http://www.goldsheetlinks.com/production2.htm ).

snitko 13y ago
You forgot that the supply of gold is limited. So if gold is durable, storable, standardized, portable, easily divisible and the supply is limited, then it's exactly like Bitcoin. Only gold is actually less portable, less durable, much less divisible and its supply is less limited than the supply of Bitcoin. Now tell me, what Bitcoin doesn't have that Gold has (except for the industrial use, which you admitted didn't event exist before the industrial revolution, and, frankly, can only be attributed to a fraction of actual gold's price)?
- oleganza 13y ago
  Bitcoin can be used for secure timestamping and mutual funds locking without third parties. These are non-monetary features that Bitcoin provides. So it has some of them, just like gold.