Originally there was no such thing as property. Some of the first property we had was animals. That's inconvenient enough thanks to lack of portability, but the bigger issue is atomicity. Metals were the intuitive solution to both problems, they can be cut into convenient denominations and also can be melted back into larger ones.
That useful property was well known (and notably, other currencies such as shells and precious stones lacked this). In addition as others have said, gold was both scarce and had a low melting point. However, other metals had these properties too, and sure enough, some cultures did anchor their currencies on metals other than gold.
We are not "just instinctively attracted to shiny metals". FHN.
That useful property was well known (and notably, other currencies such as shells and precious stones lacked this). In addition as others have said, gold was both scarce and had a low melting point. However, other metals had these properties too, and sure enough, some cultures did anchor their currencies on metals other than gold.
We are not "just instinctively attracted to shiny metals". FHN.