I was referring to reading a stock certificate. Stock is a nuanced and highly specific legal claim on a sliver of the capital structure of an artificial entity. I was referring to reading the terms, conditions and property embodied in the stock. I'm very diligent about such things and I personally never have read that, nor has anyone ever suggested I should ... because ... well ... I'm not sure momentum investors really care 99% of the time about the intrinsic value of whatever they're spending money on.

Gold is a natural element with scientific properties I'm generally aware of, even if I've never personally audited them.

[p.s. - I was also was referring to the historical value of the dollar. A "dollar" literally was at the time of adoption in the U.S. a fixed amount of precious metal.]