Obviously, this is mainly because people had relatively easy access to hard currencies like the US dollar and German mark. It goes without saying that fiat currencies are more liquid form of money and handy for everyday expenses that gold. But what if there are no more such stable currencies altogether, and all currencies turn to trash more or less simultaneously? I'm inclined to think that gold in the form of gold bars and gold specie will still be used for the purchases of expensive and durable goods like homes or cars...

In fact, at the most severe moments of the Leningrad Blockade a gold ring could buy you a loaf of bread when nothing else would