[Balding_Eagle]

Well, it would seem that if you had enough lead, you could take as many of the cattle as you wanted in the villages as you travel, and even ‘invite’ the folks who own gold to give you some!

[muawiyah]

No doubt ~ if times were tough, and I had many cattle in many villages (and was probably, as a result, the big man on the block) I suppose I could sell off a cow here or there to wealthy but otherwise starving gold standard holdouts.

After the danger had passed I'd then have one of my tinsmiths melt that gold down and pour it into little molds, each shaped in the form of a cow.

Bet I could keep the gold itself in a strongbox under guard and pass off little bronze statues of that gold. That way I could buy what I want and keep all the gold anyway. And that thanks to the cows I so smartly pastured in so many villages all across the country.

Diversification of a portfolio frequently pays the highest dividends.