[whodathunkit]

Is "value" defined in fiat currency the same as "value" defined in gold?

Publius, at the risk of making things even messier, how would a gold standard compare to a barter system?
Isn't the fact that some nations are richer in gold deposits an arbitrary selector of wealth?

[Publius]

...at the risk of making things even messier, how would a gold standard compare to a barter system?

Barter is perfectly fine. But the strengths and weaknesses of a polity created a need for a medium of exchange. In some places that was seashells. In others, precious metals came to the fore.

Isn't the fact that some nations are richer in gold deposits an arbitrary selector of wealth?

True. But the concept of the nation-state is fairly recent in Western civilization, dating from the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 and the Teaty of Versailles in 1919. Is the nation-state still relevant? (Just trying to make trouble.)

[gracie1]

Isn't the fact that some nations are richer in gold deposits an arbitrary selector of wealth?

You can't eat gold, or wear it for clothing, etc. But you can trade that gold to another nation that can grow ample food. That nation can pay others to ship the food to you. That is how western civilization grew and flourished in the renaissance.

Now look at the anomaly that is Saudi Arabia. If it weren't for their oil reserves they'd still be desert nomads.