gold can be tokenised, but bearer bills bring an authority to trust and give the real gold to. Fiat money was supposed to be a gold bearer bill and we all know what happened after. And I would still have a verification issue. Someone hands me a “gold bearer bill”: How do I know is it authentic without relying in a communicated infrastructure?
Discussion
you don’t trust the bill, you trust the coin.
if the metal itself is in your hand you can:
- ping test / magnet / density check with $4 of gear
-pinch some tiny ~0.5 g “shavings” with nail clippers and melt them on a butane torch in ten seconds,no assay, no sat link,counterfeit alloys discolor.
those moves have worked *for centuries*. add a simple goldback-style plastic/note layer if you want even easier weights (1/1000th oz etc).
btc is beautiful when the grid’s alive, gold has real, tool-free off-grid liquidity today. only zealots try to live on one money.