It's not so much that gold has intrinsic value in itself - it's that some people erroneously conclude that because a given value is based internally, on belief alone, without acknowledging other fundamentals, that it might as well be thin air; a box that Tommy Boy takes a dump in and marks "GUARANTEED", because he's got time. And then they run with it, seeing all the wonderful possibilities of a fantasy value substitution in exchange for what they incorrectly saw as an equivalent fantasy value. However, because value fundamentals, like natural scarcity, can be tested, once it is learned that the fantasy value is based on something cheaper than dirt, paper, or air, and just as widely available, the value * poof * ultimately vanishes. It is at that point, after real wealth is wiped out by an easily counterfeited fantasy holding vehicle, that everyone clings to something with sounder fundamentals - the number one being gold.
Gold's value is not just in its beauty or useful physical properties. It has intrinsic fundamentals that make it an ideal medium of exchange that minimizes the need for trust. It's value as an ideal vehicle (as perceived on an individual level - not some theoretical fantasy model) is highly explicable. And rational.
