re: #141 A hollow voice says, Beware the strongman con

I have to run, but I just wanted to mention that gold was usable as currency because it’s pretty, shiny, and had no other use (like gemstones). Well, except for gold teeth.

Of course, now that we’ve reached the Electronic Age, it suddenly has a use, which makes it even worse as a currency than it was before.

Gold fulminate (40% gold by mass iirc) was the first explosive to be devised after black gunpowder (17th century). It was much more powerful than black powder, too, but had some rather obvious drawbacks.