First, Thanks to @raybrockman for this informal work. This is a good way to pull back the attention to our old means of payment. The money we use now is nothing but a piece of paper with the real worth of paper. Before 15th of August 1971 every single dollar was backed with gold. So the Paper money was a receipt for a piece of gold. It was easier to handle the paper money because of its weight. Gold is quite heavy. 19,32 grams per cm3. So it is around 19 times heavier than water. It is uncomfortable to carry gold or silver with you to buy your daily food. Paper money had some nice characteristics. BUT not if somebody is cheating by printing all the time new paper money when they need it. In the game "Monopoly" we all understand the system. The guy who holds the bank should not cheat with extra printed dollars.
I learned the profession of goldsmith in the 90s. Since then I am fascinated from these two metals, Silver and Gold. Maybe some people would say: Gold is so expensive. I can not buy it. Yes it is, but not the silver! Honestly Silver is my absolute favorite because of its characteristics. It is the number one Metal in electric conductivity. Also number one in heat conductivity. Also number one in optical reflections and it is antiseptic and therefor very interesting for medical uses. Silver it right now totaly under valued. Everybody of you should do his own research. The ratio between gold and silver was always in the past around 1:15 . Or 1:16 . That means you could get 15 fine ounces (31.1 grams)for 1 ounce of gold. The paper money system without the backing by gold was an 40 years experiment (for some people a good business) which failed. About the gold.. it is the king of metals. It shows no corrosion and is almost indestructible by chemical influences. Just a mix of two acids is able to dissolve this metal. Imagine the gold which were found in the oceans of pirate ships looks like new. After hundreds of years. And all the existing gold world wide it is equivalent to a cube of arrround 20 meter by 20 meter. It is rare and nobody can copy it. Not yet ;) But I would also mention the platinum. Not many people talk about it. It's also a special metal and in my opinion it belongs to the little club of silver and gold, too. Thank you guys for your attention. I do not want to push anybody to anything. It is my personal opinion about this topic. If you are interested in powerful handmade jewelry take a visit at my blog. Greetings from Mongolia and enjoy your day, Silbart.