Gold is one of the world's oldest currencies, and according to the World Gold Council, gold coins were first used around 550 BC as a way to purchase goods and services. Even long after governments and banks started producing their own paper money, it was still tied to the "gold standard" which affixed a value to the notes at a set price per ounce of gold. These paper notes were just a promise that you actually had gold stored in a secure location. Today, paper notes are not based in gold but trust.
But trust can be fleeting. If there were an economic collapse, all paper money could be worthless overnight.
Now some companies, such as Gold Money, have figured out a way to let people pay for things with gold just like they could with any other bank card. According to Business Wire, Gold Money works by purchasing some amount of gold at the going rate through the company. The company then holds that gold in a secure location and issues a prepaid Mastercard. When a transaction is made, the price is deducted from the gold amount at the current exchange rate.
There are more than a few skeptics. According to coinlink.com, this simply functions as a collateralized credit card. If your trust in the financial system is so low that you want to buy with gold, you wouldn't want to buy gold and then put it into the financial credit system. You also trust that someone somewhere actually buys the gold and stores it securely.
