Here in the USA four metals were used, gold , silver , nickel, and copper. The nickle and copper took care of the 5 cents and 1 cent transactions or in making change. The 10, 25, 50 cent coins were all made of silver and so were the $1 coins. Gold was the higher denomination $'s coins.
Paper "money" led to inflation and devaluation of the dollar, the US dollar has lost 97% of it's purchasing power since 1933 according to reports I have read from this year. So it would seem that without substance behind the "money" is a bigger problem than scarcity would be. You could still have electronic transactions or credit cards but settlement of the accounts would have to take place by the physical transfer of the coin money, so one trip to the bank a month would be required if you had any financial transactions.
There is a lot more that would be required in explaining the history and it would be very lengthy but I believe we would have far less financial problems in the world today had gold and silver been kept as the standard for the dollar. It was the banks that caused the initial problems when it came right down to it, and then they were ultimately the ones who ended up profiting the most from the problem they created.
It would be like a town that had only one auto body repair shop, and the owner of the shop would go out in a old beat up car at night crashing into parked cars and causing damage to them, he knows he will have plenty of business the next weeks to come.
The banks were and are no different than the body shop owner.