I think you are very correct that it would be completely impractical to try to gold back to using gold coins or even a gold backed fiat! It has proven to fail in the past so why would we try to go down that road again! Times have changed, commerce has changed, we are a global society connected in real time and we need an economic system that supports the way the world does business today! I will buy gold all day long for a store of value, but as a currency I think it's day has come and gone!