Specie backed currency was not a better store of money, because the levels of redeemability of the paper notes were highly variable. Banks went bust all the tim

Specie backed currency was not a better store of money, because the levels of redeemability of the paper notes were highly variable. Banks went bust all the time in those days, taking all your savings and all the currency and loans issued by them with them. Deflationary periods were even more disastrous than hyper-inflationary periods. Once the banks started popping, they shrunk the money supply along with their numbers, caused further deflation, and further ruined everyone. Specie backed currency issued by a strong, ethical central bank with a solid management team in a stable country might be a better store of wealth - but how rare are those? Historically, very. In the long run, we are all dead and there is no good store of wealth. In the short run, however, diversified investments in stable countries are a decent store of wealth - certainly better than any currency holding. Which is why you don't see rich people hoarding vast sums of cash. They typically keep very little money in the form of cash, because it's the least reliable. Cash, currency, is valuable as a medium of exchange, not of storage.