Adam Smith might be wrong about the detailed history or might be oversimplifying the history. But I don't think he could be very wrong about how people thought

Adam Smith might be wrong about the detailed history or might be oversimplifying the history. But I don't think he could be very wrong about how people thought about money in his time. One point of the article is that the exact amount of base metal was never really the point and the value of the coins was regulated by supply and demand for coins somewhat independently of the precious metal content. Which seems fair, but then one has to ask why make the coins out of gold etc. in the first place, and why make a big deal about how much is in there?