We should consider the posibility that in the future; Scientific and Technological advances will provide an economically feasable method to artificially produce gold and other elements.
According to an article in Wikepedia This has been done by nuclear bombarding of Mercury.
I wish there were more sources that confirm this has actually been done in the past.
But, even if it were a hoax, the possibility remains; and gold hoarding could only be a temporary means of hoarding wealth.
Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthesis_of_precious_metals#cite_note-2 :
"Gold synthesis in a nuclear reactor
Gold was first synthesized from mercury by neutron bombardment in 1941, but the isotopes of gold produced were all radioactive.[3]
Gold can currently be manufactured in a nuclear reactor by irradiation either of platinum or mercury."
There already is an economically feasible method to produce gold - it is called mining. How your analysis changes if we substitute "gold mining" for "chrysopoeia"?
I don't see what the issue is. At some point in the future, someone might come up with a way to mine what used to be an accepted commodity money.
The vision of a future where nuclear (or some other) technology drastically lowers (or rather equalizes) the price of production of most elements should give gold bugs food for thought.
When natural relative scarcity will no longer be there to shield us from inflation, shall we be doomed to recurring business cycles and bad money? Or could it be thta natural scarcity is not the only, or even the bets, hedge against such evils?
Whatever free agents (subjectively value) and freely exchange in a free market will be subjectively valued and exchanged, as long as the market is free. What more could one want/say?
The value of anything (including gold) is not written in stone. Free markets --because, and if, they are free -- will always find a way to fascilitate exchange of goods, services and labor by converging to media of exchange which reflect the environment and the subjective valuations of its participating agents. For all we know, if technology allowed for everything one touched to be turned to gold or whatever else one desired, then coupons for "1hr massage by a human" may arise as the prodominant medium of exchange and store of value.