Here, in the 1970s, it worked so strongly that inflation was running at 25 per cent, and anyone who bought or owned gold was committing a criminal offence and could be sent to prison. Gold as a monetary asset was so obviously superior to its paper competitor that the law was required to shore up the monopolists' position. Mahmoud, of course, set the precedent. 

As always with monopolies, the losers are the customers. Gold represents their insurance policy, not so much to buy and sell as to have and to hold. It is on their side — on the side of the individual, that is, against the proprietors of the printing presses, and against the risks inherent in trading camels for paper.