On the night of 15 August 1971, the dollar stopped being a claim on gold. After that, everyday money was a promise, and the issuer could make more promises whenever the old ones felt heavy. Money you can audit still exists. A supply nobody can quietly dilute is not a myth. Most people keep the melting kind anyway, because the person next to them does. A herd feels like safety. The old word for that is sheep.
Worth knowing
Sound money is real. People stay with the kind that melts because the herd does.