“...but how does one take a gram of gold to the supermarket to buy groceries?”
If it is going to be like Argentina, you don’t. You take it to the black market, or if things aren’t totally out of whack, you take it to the coin dealer and exchange it there.
The value is in the historical truth that when fiat money is losing value, gold and silver will keep theirs. The same amount of dollars will buy so much groceries today, will not buy those same groceries next year.
“The value is in the historical truth that when fiat money is losing value, gold and silver will keep theirs.”
Absolutely correct. I did a price comparison a few months ago. While dairy, meat, bread, etc. have doubled and tripled, so has silver in the same time (I don’t compare gold). The prices vary a little based on what you price and exactly when, but essentially the value of PM’s relative to other goods remains fairly constant, it’s the value of the dollar that is dropping.