Does this mean that if I bought gold in 1981 that I can finally sell and make dollars (*not* adjusted for inflation)?
A better bet would have been buying my house in 1981, which would have gained 500% or so by now. About the same for buying a DOW index fund.
Over the long term, gold is a lousy bet. Unlike real estate, which has already all been discovered, gold is still being discovered daily. The higher it goes, the more they'll dig, limiting how much it can go up. And as gold recovery gets more efficient, gold could actually decline in price (as it has in real terms), till the point we've mined the whole earth.
Over the long term, gold is a lousy bet.
Especially if times got REALLY bad - like 1930s bad -and the gov't seizes your gold again!