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A comment on Facebook, Libra, and the Long Game. Parent comment

Re:Facebook, Libra, and the Long Game by RobertoG on Tuesday June 25, 2019 @12:34PM (#20275942)
>>"Gold coins can be minted at multiple places, or admitted foreign, because their value is gold by weight."

If the value of the coin come from the gold in it, why mint them instead of using the gold directly?

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Re:Facebook, Libra, and the Long Game by dwighttk on Tuesday June 25, 2019 @12:48PM (#20276116)
(imperfect) stamp of quality and amount
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Re:Facebook, Libra, and the Long Game by nine_k on Tuesday June 25, 2019 @08:35PM (#20280799)
Gold was used directly, too, as ingots, and as bullion (check out the gold rush of 1849).

But coins show the insignia of the state (and usually the monarch) that minted it; this is an important symbol, and also a guarantee of purity and weight, at least nominally.

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