Gold has several characteristics that made it a good choice for money.
(1) Until the atomic bomb was invented, nothing on Earth could create or destroy gold. Gold does not oxidize (rust) or react with other compounds. It
is inert.
(2) While gold is rare, it is not too rare. There is enough available to make it practical to use for money.
(3) A piece of gold can easily be divided into smaller pieces and smaller pieces can easily be combined into a larger piece.
(4) All gold is equal. One gold bar is worth the same amount as any other gold bar of the same weight, while one half-carat diamond may be worth much
more than another half-carat diamond due to difference in cut, clarity, etc.
(5) Gold is easy to handle and store.
(6) It certainly does not hurt that gold is shiny and attractive to the human eye.
People will understand all too late how worthless their shiny gold and precious green is. Gold is valuable, but you would be better off investing in
the world.
I'm of the opinion that gold, like diamonds, is used for evil. Gold is great for industry purposes but for anything else, I think gold should be set
at pennies per pound, same with diamonds, or terrorist stones,-as I like to call them.