Gold has been money for nearly all of recorded human history, and remains so; despite the desires of governments.  If that were not so, it wouldn't be worth much more than lead, and certainly less than many other heavy elements.  Uranium, for example is much more dangerous and capital intensive to mine and refine than gold, yet has recently been described as being in a bubble rally for breaking $60 per pound.  Gold's current spot price reflects it's position as an ideal, physical money.  That has never not been so.  The primary advantage that Bitcoin holds over gold as a trade currency is that 1) you can't transfer it over the Internet and 2) if you could it would still impose a transit overhead well beyond a transaction fee.

If you are attending the University of Kentucky as an Economics student and you have been taught that gold isn't money, you should consider transferring before you learn some more falsehoods that are difficult to overcome.