Why does a commodity like gold have the value it does? Its price outshines its industrial uses. The remaining values are that it doesn't corrode and it's shiny.
I don't believe that the price of gold outpaces its value over the long run.
Of course prices can swing in the shorter term. Silver was worth $10 an ounce in 1979 and $10 an ounce in 1981, but for a few days in 1980 it went over $40 for various reasons.
The price of gold and silver shot up after the 2008 sub-prime crisis, but have come down from their highs. There are still some economic fears, like with the EU, with Greece and Spain, so the prices are still somewhat high.
The reason gold's price doesn't outstrip its value over the long term is because it is just a commodity, despite being durable as you say (and divisible, and uniform, and portable). If its price outstripped its value for too long, people would move to better priced commodities like the other precious metals, or oil, or other commodities.
