A $100 bill is no longer worth its weight in gold
The surging price of gold delivers a blow to paper money, history and common sense.
Gold used to be a heavy metal. It weighed down pockets and made moving money a workout.
When Marco Polo saw China’s paper currency for the first time, he marveled at how effortlessly Kublai Khan could make it rain. “They are so light,” he said, comparing the paper bills to the heftier coins he knew, “that ten bezants’ worth does not weigh one golden bezant.”
The Venetian’s head would have really exploded had he lived another seven centuries to see what happened to the yellow metal in 2025.
In the latest death blow to cash, it is losing one of the chief reasons it was invented: portability and convenience.
Gold is now lighter than paper money.
Seriously. A $100 bill weighs one gram. At current prices, $100 worth of gold weighs about 0.96 grams.
This all sounds like the sort of tall tale Polo was famous for. The sort of hyperbole that earned him the nickname Marco Millions. (Back then the idea of a million of anything seemed absurd, a fantasy).
But unlike much of Polo’s “adventures,” these numbers are real.
Midas’ lighter touch
The price of gold is roughly $3,250 an ounce, up 40% from a year ago and nearly double what it was five years ago. A gram of gold broke the 100-buck mark in April, and now goes for $104. (There are roughly 31.1 grams in a troy ounce).
What is behind this, you may be wondering. Is the precious metal on Ozempic? Has Ben Franklin let himself go?
No, but the actual explanations financial analysts give make only slightly more sense.
People turn to gold and gold ETFs in times of geopolitical and economic uncertainty. (Doomsday preppers, Costco shoppers putting gold bars in their carts, and young goldbugs would only do so much.)
A weakening dollar makes gold more appealing. (Though much of the surge came with a strong dollar).
China is buying a lot of gold – and so are its people. (The central bank moves do seem to be a factor.)
The unbearable lightness of bling
Does it matter that a $100 bill is a bit overweight?
Well, maybe if you are in the middle of a heist: then it might make sense to drop the cash and take the carats.
A million dollars in cash weighs about 22 pounds. Dr. Evil could lighten the load in his suitcase by a full pound if he took his million in gold.
Of course, most of our money today is digital. Data. Gold would have to really surge to be lighter than a bunch of ones and zeros.
All the information on the internet would weigh in at about 53 quadrillionths of a gram, according to this awesome analysis by Samantha Spengler at Wired.
But just in case of the zombie apocalypse, it might pay to keep some gold around.