lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

Water will probably become more precious than gold. There's a lot of it, but most of it's undrinkable and what IS drinkable - isn't always where it's needed. For ANYTHING to have value, someone else needs/wants it. Oil had NO value when it was first discovered, the need had to be created first, then the value followed. Kerosene and naptha were the first "needs" created.

Copper and silver were actually the first metals used as an exchange for "stuff". Lords couldn't put cattle and grain in their treasuries, so an alternative had to be established. When disasters struck, the metals could be used to purchase food from elsewhere and if were not, the lords were usually the next to die, since you can't eat metal. When you're starving to death, you want food and if your "wealth" can't buy it, you still want food. When there is not enough food, no amount of wealth can buy it, so you'll just have to eat your gold and silver.

bmac32 Loc: West Florida

Ignore list???

archie bunker Loc: Texas

Yep.

Alicia Loc: NYC

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I would venture to say that at that time, gold was used purely for ornamentation.

rhomin57 Loc: Far Northern CA.

Gold is a "Pure" metal in it's natural form. When shined, it has the most beautiful brilliance of all metals.
In ancient times, due to it's soft nature, it was molded over other metals like brass, or specific woods, due to it's beauty. In ancient religions it was used due to it's "Purity" and coveted by other religions that did not have it.
The ancient Hebrews used Gold to cover the outside of acacia wood for the Ark of the Covenant, as Gold is Pure.
Today, it is used to back our paper monetary system due to it's rare Purity, giving it it's wealth.

Blacksheep

Yeah but. Check around on Google, gold was valued in stone age times when it had no practical use. At all. Why is that? Gold is HEAVY and SOFT. It made lousy bracelets and armbands. You couldn't make any useful tool with it. Yet gold was valued long before it was used as money. Why?

And no. Gold hasn't backed our paper money for many years now.

rhomin57 Loc: Far Northern CA.

rhomin57 Loc: Far Northern CA.

sorry b****sheep, our comments kind of purged together somehow (??)

Blacksheep

Rhomins response;
Again, because of it's exquisite shine, and beauty. It melted easily and molded easily for jewelry, trinkets, and painted on the edgings and decorations of pottery, utensils, and dishwhare.
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You don't listen.

One last time. Get it or don't because I can explain to you but I can't make you understand. That one's on you:

BACK IN THE STONE AGE BEFORE WE HUMANS EVEN MADE JEWELRY, LONG BEFORE WE WERE CAPABLE OF PAINTING GOLD ONTO THINGS, LONG BEFORE WE MADE DISHWARE, BACK WHEN WE WERE STILL EATING WITH OUR FINGERS, gold was prized. When we had no use for it at all, it was prized. When life centered around survival against huge predators like the Saber-Toothed Tiger which is extinct today, and the Cave Lion and Cave Bear and Dire Wolf - are you slowly, fuzzily getting a vague picture now? - back then, gold, utterly useless gold, hard to find gold that had no purpose at all, was prized and my question is,

WHY? You don't know, I don't know, I just think it's an anomaly and I'm wondering if anyone does know. But no more god blah blah, hey?

I do have a wild, totally improbable theory but like I say, very improbable. It is true that the very earliest written references to gold refer to it as the metal of the gods, even before the Old Testament one-god doctrine. The Bible also refers to visits from people in circular ships. Gold is rare in the Universe and the Earth seems to have, or have had, a fairly plentiful supply. Could it possibly be that those "angels" were actually here putting us to work getting it out of the ground for them, and that's why we have an ingrained lust for it? That's nutty but does anyone have a better idea?

bmac32 Loc: West Florida

rhomin57 Loc: Far Northern CA.

Sorry B****sheep, but how would the cave-dwelling troglydites have any way of leaving any info about their existence, especially items they cherished? All they left behind were cave paintings and jewelry items that fell of their dead bodies in decomposure. There was no history writings left behind by the ancient cave dwellers, just very simple cave paintings? The Myans and Incas cherished Jade, and was their wealth. Don't know how to answer, so just will leave it alone.
Again, sorry, but your question does not make any sense to me.

RetNavyCWO Loc: VA suburb of DC

I think you are right, archie. Sometimes the simplest answer is the right answer. Ancients liked gold because it was pretty and rare. When polished, there is no other metal as beautiful. Jewelery didn't need to be hard, so it was perfect for that. And since it often appeared in nugget form and could be smelted into small nuggets at modest temperature, it was useful for bartering. B****sheep is looking for some profound answer, while the obvious answers stare him in the face.

RetNavyCWO Loc: VA suburb of DC

You're right: that is a wild and improbable theory.