How did gold become such a symbol of wealth?

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Because humans like shiny bits.

 

It's also rare and difficult to extract from the ore, that raises the price.

 

It's an elixir for immortality and pavement in the new city. Everyone wants to walk on gold, but only few will...

 

Pavement in a new city? What do you mean?

 

New Jerusalem is "pure gold, like clear glass" and its "brilliance [is] like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper." The street of the city is also made of "pure gold, like transparent glass".

 

It's pretty.
It has a high melting point.
It is pliable and can be hammered into pieces thinner than human hair.
It's not magnetic.
It's durable.
It doesn't rust.

What amuses me is that some societies used pearls, rocks with holes, bells, and shells for money.

 

It's rare and hard to purify. That always makes a material expensive. And since it's pretty and malleable, it's also easy to display as a show of wealth.

 

Gold's value is ultimately a social construction, it is valuable because even, you will agree it has been and will be in the future.
Today work
Profile creation

 

Gold has a lot of practical applications too, it's not just a social construct.