Oh do you mean trade gold? Yes. They could but i don't typically bring gold to a farmers market and it's a pain I. The ass getting change. So no, not a real solution.
Discussion
It's a pain in the ass now because they don't & nobody has set up shop in the area with the stuff.
Like I said, by weight.
OK so if I bring in a gold bar weighing half an oz to buy a carrot, how are you going to provide change? Yeah sure weigh it out. But how do I verify on the spot it's real gold and how do you divide up my gold bar? Does the Amish have to lug around a bunch of gold nuggets for change? Doesn't make any sense. USD still functions better in this case.
Why the hell would you use gold for small purchases?
Come on, there is plenty of historical example of how this worked & full ounces aren't all there is.
Right. So gold is not a very good medium of exchange.
Your other two options are usd and bitcoin. Which is better?
Monometalism is a modern statist creation.
OK sure, but that doesn't change the fact that bitcoin is a better method of exchange than any physical metal coin. Gold or otherwise.
I can weigh metal coins but I have no way to verify on the spot it's not a forgery.
I have to carry around coins and someone has to have a scale.
These old methods worked in a historical context and will continue to work in a post apocalyptic type of context. But in today's current society, bitcoin is better.