what is a store of value 
a store of value is an asset commodity or currency that maintains its value without depreciating understanding a store of valuea store of value is essentially an asset commodity or currency that can be saved retrieved and exchanged in the future without deteriorating in value in other words to enter this category the item acquired should over time either be worth the same or more gold and other metals are stores of value as their shelf lives are essentially perpetual for investors interest bearing assets such as u s treasury bonds t bonds qualify too because they retain their value while generating income milk on the other hand is a poor store of value because it will decay and become worthless store of value examplesa reasonably stable currency is essential to a healthy economy a nation s money must be a credible store of value in order for its citizens to engage in labor and trade save money and spend it a monetary unit that serves poorly as a store of value destroys all incentive to save or even earn and reduces the ability to trade many economies throughout history have used gold silver and other precious metals as currencies because of their ability to store value their relative ease of transport and the ease of exchanging them for different denominations in fact the united states was on a gold standard meaning that dollars were redeemable for a specific weight of gold up until 1971 president richard nixon ended dollar convertibility to give the federal reserve fed greater power to influence the rates of employment and inflation among other factors since then the u s has used a fiat currency which a government declares as legal tender but is not tied to a commodity of value any physical asset may be considered a store of value under the right circumstances or when a base level of demand is believed to exist special considerations