Comment on Trek Club
Bonehead@kbin.social 9 months agoYes, but beyond its scarcity, what other purpose does it have? Lots of things are rare and can't be replicated, but their value comes from the need to use them for some purpose such the ability to build other things that you wouldn't be able to build otherwise. Latinum has never been shown as anything more than a currency with nothing behind it to give it value.
teft@startrek.website 9 months ago
What value does gold have other than it doesn’t rust and it looks pretty?
It’s the same thing essentially. Latinum looks pretty and can’t be replicated therefore it’s a good currency.
Bonehead@kbin.social 9 months ago
Gold is used in a variety of applications. You're likely holding a device filled with gold right now. Even before the computer revolution, is was still used in medical applications. There are tons of uses for gold that don't involve currency.
teft@startrek.website 9 months ago
Yes it does have applications nowadays but when good was used as a monetary store we didn’t have electronics. Good was mainly used because it is shiny, easily workable, rare, and never corroded.
Bonehead@kbin.social 9 months ago
It was shiny, easily workable, and didn't turn your skin green. As a jewelry metal, it was much more valuable than as a currency. It had uses other than just money...
lolcatnip@reddthat.com 9 months ago
You missed a big advantage of gold: it’s so dense you can verify that a piece of gold is real just by weighing it, because very few materials are even close to the density of gold. For most of human history, it was impossible to substitute another material for gold, and even now, the materials that are denser than gold are radioactive and/or more expensive than gold.