Well, for thousands of years, a person's wealth was measured in gold and silver, but also other hard assets. Dating back to biblical times, land, sheep, cattle, their crops, and such were also a measure of a man's wealth. And it still is today to the people who understand what wealth is. Do you think Bill Gates and Warren Buffet actually have 80 and 70 billion dollar bills? NO. Their wealth is the ownership of companies, properties that hold value, and among other things, rare art and collectibles. And I'm sure they are smart enough to hold gold and silver as well.