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Anyway, why can't gold become worthless? Why is it anymore immune to the laws of supply and demand than anything else?
I don't need to know why...history shows that it does.
You couldn't carry enough fiat money to buy a loaf of bread in post WWII europe. Those with gold lived well.

But it will if you ever decide to sell it, because you'll have to pay someone to authenticate it.
That may be true if I were to sell several pounds in our present economy. I can, and often do, use gold in private transactions. I have never had a problem using gold. I have never needed to 'authenticate' gold nuggets. You only need an assay when you sell to a smelter.
If you had invested $20 in the stock market in 1900 and reinvested the dividends, you'd have tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars now
Sure, the stock market and bonds are good investments. But...our family lost everything in the crash of '29, yet lived good during the depression because gramps kept his gold in a coffee can under his bed. I do the same.

That's legitimate. However treasury bills, real estate, and even pork bellies are probably more secure and more likely to be convertible.

When the banks and brokers close their doors, only gold has value. All other investments are nothing more than IOUs. Gold does not need to be converted. It is usable as is.

Stashed gold is for disasterous emergencies. It would probably take WMD attacks in Europe and America to crash our modern economy. Government would recover in a matter of months, but gold will keep food on the table while you're waiting for recovery.
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