I'm not so sure about that. Gold is used in jewelry because (a) it looks cooler than silver/tin/copper/etc.; and (b) because it is really rare.
So I'm proposing the chain is:
Looks good & rare -> Valuable
I think if you were missing either "looks good for jewelry" OR "rare", it wouldn't be valuable and it wouldn't work as a medium of exchange.
This is a historical perspective. These days you could also use:
Used in industrial applications & rare -> Valuable
but I doubt that would drive the value of it up to where my former hypothesis does, if it's right.
It's easy to make jewelry out of wood, glass, and lots of other things.
I'm not so sure about that. Gold is used in jewelry because (a) it looks cooler than silver/tin/copper/etc.; and (b) because it is really rare.
So I'm proposing the chain is:
Looks good & rare -> Valuable
I think if you were missing either "looks good for jewelry" OR "rare", it wouldn't be valuable and it wouldn't work as a medium of exchange.
This is a historical perspective. These days you could also use:
Used in industrial applications & rare -> Valuable
but I doubt that would drive the value of it up to where my former hypothesis does, if it's right.