We know now that you can’t turn “base metals” into gold through chemical processes, but if you could, gold would no longer be scarce and therefore no more valuable than the base metals.
We know now that you can’t turn “base metals” into gold through chemical processes, but if you could, gold would no longer be scarce and therefore no more valuable than the base metals.
Secret knowledge was a lot more realistic back then.
If you were the ONLY person that knows how to turn base metals into gold, you can still be rich beyond all reason.