Are you sure? I was under the impression that, for instance, diamond's value is mostly manufactured, but gold is actually useful for various electronic and chemical properties.
Yeah, I looked it up before posting. And "superficial" would be better a better word than "manufactured." Only like 10% of gold production goes towards industrial purposes. The rest is used for jewelry or as currency backing.
edit And gold is actually a rare element that's actually useful, like you described, just not rare enough that most of it can't be siphoned off to sit idly in someone's vault. Diamonds are also somewhat useful, but not really rare.
edit And gold is actually a rare element that's actually useful, like you described, just not rare enough that most of it can't be siphoned off to sit idly in someone's vault. Diamonds are also somewhat useful, but not really rare.