In a piece in SFO mag by Howard L. Simons: "It is valued because it is yellow and shiny and largely useless. We essentially mine it for no other purpose than to re-bury it in vaults where it serves as a constant reminder of our inability to create and maintain a functioning monetary system."
Perhaps this man should've googled "Uses for gold" before he came up with that quote. http://geology.com/minerals/gold/uses-of-gold.shtml
I don't know if I heard this from somewhere else or invented it just now: Gold- "everyone can tell me where it's going, but no one can tell me where it's been".
Even this reference stated in the first heading: "Jewelry: The Primary Use of Gold" The fact is gold is a vanity metal. There is very few cases where gold can't be substituted by other metals or material.
In a piece in SFO mag by m22au: "Fiat currency is valued because it is paper/plastic and colourful and largely useless. We essentially produce it for no other purpose than to facilitate transactions without having to worry about the difficulties associated with barter. "But the problem is, because it is not backed by anything tangible, politicians and central banks around the world have a history of, and continue to, create additional fiat currency, and thus, diluting the "value" of the fiat currency in circulation. "Given this, malfunctioning monetary system, it makes sense for people to get rid of their fiat currency and buy precious metals, in order to preserve their purchasing power".
Central Banks have to create more fiat because all fiat is loaned into existence and would default repeatedly never getting off the ground. There is no permanent money.