Listening to more commentators, mainly African, discussing the new Zimbabwe gold-backed currency. Some of them miss an important point, others hit it squarely.
Miss: The central bank doesn’t have enough physical gold to pay all notes “on demand”, so the currency can’t work. No. Banks NEVER had enough physical gold to pay all bills “on demand”. That wasn’t the reason for gold.
Hit: Basing a currency on gold is less certain now, because gold itself is just another variable commodity now. Before Nixon broke the world, gold was firmly regulated to 35 dollars.
The hit recognizes the function of gold as METROLOGY. It was never intended as a direct cashout. It was always a MEASUREMENT STANDARD, exactly like the Iridium Standard Kilogram or the Sidereal Second.
I think the Zimbabwe bank recognizes the metrology, and hopes the rest of the world will agree. Their government is making a big push for foreign investment:
Polistra's Mill 