Nemo,
re: "I still dont understand this value folks put on Gold. It's just a metal."
It is "just" a RARE metal that has been treated as extremely valuable or as money by almost every culture throughout history. And it has minimal industrial demand. That makes it an ideal substance for backing a future currency.
You actually wouldn't want to use something that had much industrial demand, by the way. That would make a currency too unstable - as industrial and technological changes would make demand for the material gyrate and play hell with the economy.
That's why gold is a better choice as money than silver.
Let's reverse this discussion. If you don't think gold is all that special, tell me what you think would work as well. Then I'll see if I can explain why you're wrong.

Gold is $1,581/oz today. When it hits $2,000, it will be up 26.5%. Let's see how long that takes. - De 3/11/2013 - ANSWER: 7 Years, 5 Months