8 Qualities Of Money

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So in order to discuss the gold standard as good currency I thought of examining its compliance with the 8 qualities of money, so let’s see how much it performs with each of theses qualities/conditions to be the perfect money.
I’ll try to rank it in each category within a scale from 1 to 3.

1. General Acceptability: would anyone accept gold as payment for any good and service? Some will do, there are a lot of examples of businesses that accept, yet far from it being the rule, Gold is simply not mainstream in daily/special transactions due to risk/lack of trust of its sources. but as not completely unused, let’s give it 1 point.
2. Portability: Gold is hella portable, it can hold a lot of value in small quantity, way more than “FIAT” money, generally only hefty and bulky materials that require a high quantity/value ratio are dismissed such as oxen and grain or materials that are kinda hard to handle/ dangerous by themselves such as petrol barrels. Yet you don’t see people going around holding gold barrels ‘cause that’d be dangerous. So let’s give it 1 point for portability
3. Indestructibility or Durability: This is where gold shines the best, there is a reason for its use in the banks and why it’s wildly loved by the ancap, you can hold on to a gold bar forever it doesn’t deteriorate or depreciate with time. 3 points in there.
4. Homogeneity: this one forces the current to be the same quality/weight/value, this also one of gold’s biggest strength, even though the relatively high cost to make it homogenous an then to verify that when making a transaction. let’s give it 2 to 3 points for that.
5. Divisibility: money should be capable of division and the aggregate value of all parts after division should be exactly the same as the starting value, So while diamonds or pieces of art or anything too valuable only in its full form and that gives off fragile pieces is unacceptable, Gold does just fine being melted and remelted all the time without much loss. But seeing how hard it is, let’s give it 2 points
6. Malleability: This quality forces the money to be shaped and reshaped to fit the desired form, and to be impresisonable, which it does but again it requires some expertise to do both, 2 points
7. Cognizability: Is Gold easily recognizable? yes! Needs some expertise again and again to do various things with gold, the same goes for verifying it's weight/value/composition so as much as it’d have been a 3 points if we were all knowledgeable of the various instruments and methods to do so, it ends up with 1 to 2 points due to human ignorance.
8. Stability of Value: obviously 3 points in there, as gold is “the gold standard” when it comes to stability of price proven by its use as storage of value.
   Footnote: Gold has been subject to various manipulations, as it was bought off by coercion by the government causing huge distortions in its market and enormous losses to the treasury, and as banks are competing to buy it off all, as we’re using it in non recoverable manner constantly, as it has limited supply. Gold can do nothing but appreciate, yet issues of trust are still a problem to consider.
   This comparison, though not except from, was heavily influenced by “the bitcoin standard” by Safedain Ammous, which is a personal recommendation when it comes to personal finance, some general history of money, and the case for the new goddess of the future market, the almighty Bitcoin.

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