Re: "This has never happened."
Perhaps the original comment meant to say the "notional value" of gold instead of the "notional value" of credit?
According to Investopedia, the notional value of gold includes the total value of all option and future contracts, plus, the total value of all debts that are ultimately guaranteed by gold.
Regardless...
Google says planet Earth has 244,000 metric tons of gold, which includes 57,000 metric tons of proven reserves still in the ground.
My calculator says that 244,000 metric tons (X) times $1,845 per ounce = $16.1 trillion.
“My calculator says that 244,000 metric tons (X) times $1,845 per ounce = $16.1 trillion.”
Good post. Total money in the world is about $200 trillion. Gold bug dream is that means gold will someday go up 10x to match.
The reality is there has never been enough gold in the world to serve as the only currency. In pre-modern times the bulk of transactions were always in lesser currencies (silver, copper, salt).
In more modern times paper money with a gold standard was only ever partially backed. US treasury would issue far more notes than it had gold reserves.