To act as a store of value, a commodity or form of money or financial capital must be able to be reliably saved, stored, and retrieved - and be predictably useful when it is so retrieved.
This is distinct from the standard of deferred payment function which requires acceptability to parties one owes a debt to, or the unit of account function which requires fungibility so accounts in any amount can be readily settled. It is also distinct from the medium of exchange function which requires durability when used in trade, and a minimum of opportunity to cheat others.
When currency is stable, money can serve all four functions. When it isn't, or when complex and volatile forms of financial capital are involved, it becomes important to identify stores of value, of which common ones are:
- real estate - actual deeds in protectible land
- gold - once the basis of the gold standard
- more stable currencies, e.g. the Euro
- less globally connected currency, e.g. the yuan
- collectibles, e.g. original art by famous creators, antiques
- livestock
See also: Bretton Woods, fractional-reserve banking, Value of Earth