In the past, in the US and most places, a coin was actually supposed to contain enough metal to actually be worth the denomination. A $20 gold piece was supposed to have $20 worth of gold in it, with some alloy to make it hard.. That's why they were heavy, gold is heavy. A nickel had 5 cents worth of nickel in it. etc. Heavy as they were, they were used in everyday commerce. Gives a real meaning to "money wearing a hole in your pocket." Generally people did not carry lots of coins. When coins were 'real' folks were reluctant to accept paper money, in fact ya might have to pay more if you offered paper instead of real coin.. If you had to travel and needed lots of bucks, you carried a letter of credit from your bank,( and that is how paper money actually got started, paper money is a 'letter of credit issued by a govt.) a local bank that trusted that letter might give you money. Sometimes actuall gold was shipped ahead by a carrier ( Wells Fargo, etc) But folks did actually use them heavy coins. Remember that most folks did not ever see, much less carry a gold coin. Cowboys and other laborers were paid a dollar a day or less. A mug of beer cost 5 cents. Bread was a penny a loaf. So most people weren't carrying many coins anyway. Rich folks didn't carry money, everything was put on their tab. Some did carry 'double eagles,' $20 gold pieces that had been hollowed out and watch works inserted. That cost hundreds of bucks. Later on money became more symbolic, especially with paper money, but even a quarter does not have 25 cents worth of anything in it. Pennies are getting real close, if they haven't already, to costing more to make than they are worth, used to be the govt.made a profit on them. A $20 coin might not contain its worth in any metal but represented $20 of gold locked up in a Govt. vault ( Ft. Knox for example) If push came to shove the Govt. could produce the gold. A paper dollar could be turned in at a Federal Bank or mint for the equivelant in silver. The govts. restricted the private ownership of gold and set and controlled the price. These days coins and currency are totally symbolic, the Govt. might not even have any gold, silver, or even tin to redeem them. But there is a law that they are money, worth the amt. they claim to be, and MUST be accepted 'for all debts public and private.' Some govts. mint 'pure' coins with the amount of metal more or less equivalent to their face amt. These ARE primarily investment or collector 'tools.' The govts. no longer set the price nor restrict ownership of gold, the price of gold rises and falls, due to supply and demand like any other metal. The issuing govt. usually sells the coin for more than its face or actual value, buyers anticipate that demand will go up or supply will decrease and the 'price' will increase. Govts. that do issue gold coins 'manipulate' they market by decreasing supply, by minting less coins. That raises the price they can get for a coin containing the same amount of gold.

gold coins are more of a store of value than a everyday currency or and investment tool, gold is a saving tool