Why have gold and silver been valuable throughout history?

submitted by [deleted] from (self.conspiracy)

Royalty has always been interested in having gold or silver crowns. Before fiat money, money was backed by these precious metals. In my understanding of history, these were considered wealth because everyone wanted them. But why would people want them? Were royalty stupid enough to value them just as status symbols, or is there some secret use of them hidden from the masses? That is, are they more than just shiny rocks?

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[–]StillLessons 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

They are chemically unusual in multiple respects, gold in particular being notably stable chemically relative to other metals.

But philosophically why is anything considered valuable? There is no inherent value in any physical object. Value is an entirely subjective term. For example, spiritual seekers for thousands of years have found no value in physical wealth. Spiritual seekers form the minority of all populations, but for them, there is no value in gold, silver, bitcoin, cash, cars, watches, etc, etc.

It's tempting to add a spiritual connotation also to the value of gold and silver among the bulk of the population. It's as good as any other explanation for people's fascination with these two metals over the years.

[–]jet199 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Spiritually shiny objects are similar to the effects people see when on drugs/ having visions.

That's one reason and that's why gold was used for religious reasons in the Americas even though they didn't use it for currency.

But the main reason is that gold doesn't degrade so if you bury it somewhere it isn't going to rot or rust away.

Humans went through many different currencies before gold became universal, in many cultures their old currencies are still worn as signs of wealth, things like cowrie shells, beads, ritual fabrics.

[–][deleted] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Silver is antimicrobial, antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-viral... Just that itself means that for the longest part of history, eating with silver utensils made for a HUGE difference in health status.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

They're durable, workable with low tech equipment, have a number of interesting properties, and are aesthetically pleasing.

Copper has also been valuable throughout history for the same reasons, albeit not at the same level.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

shiny

[–]asterias 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It won't rust.