What or who made Gold so valuable compared to other things? Why did most societies use it?
True it is rare – but that is not enough to give it value. It has to be rare and well known. So first and foremost, it IS found in nature – on Earth. Rather than, say, aluminum (plenty of aluminum oxide, just not the metal) or zinc. Something can’t have had any value to the ancients if it didn’t exist. That is why there is a historical precedent. But it is the only metal they did have access to that didn’t tarnish. Even silver tarnishes in sulpherous environments. A piece of iron or copper would be pretty nasty after a short time. Its durability coupled with the fact that there wasn’t a LOT of it made it good as a monetary standard. Now that we have lots of metals that really are quite resistant to tarnishing, that are far cheaper, really its historical precedent is all that bolsters its value. Because it really doesn’t have many special uses. You can plate electrical contacts with gold. Yippie. But why use gold when you can use tin or antimony or nickel. You can plate tools with it. B
