> What about Platinum? That's worth more than gold isn't it? Why not hoard that?
You can, and some do - but platinum is more of an industrial metal than either gold or silver. It's more of a niche thing in the PM market.
> And why IS it anyway - why do people value this ugly silver so much?
The same reason why all PM's are valuable - scarcity. It's the same principle with rare gems. The real question is why do people value paper money so much being that its supply is theoretically infinite? Zimbabwe now has $100 trillion notes that don't buy very much, hilarious.