"the purchasing power of gold can/will return, however the purchasing power of Weimar republic or US notes under hyperinflation will never return."
Gold is no different to equities, property or other assets in this respect. Its no secret that governments try to encourage a mild inflation (because it leads to greater economic demand) and have mostly succeeded. Hence the price of non-currency assets has risen over the long term. Gold's price movements have been anything but steady, quick spikes, sharp declines followed by long periods of stagnation. Again you could say the same about equities. The point is there is nothing magical about gold that sets it apart from other asset classes as a "store of value" or inflation hedge. Its all in the timing.
