In the dream he was in a war- torn area. He had a cat. He was offered a bag of gold for the cat and refused. Under these circumstances the cat could be eaten to sustain life, and gold could not. In the dream cats and other good things to eat were even more scarce than gold.
Scarcity is vital.
Everyone would make themselves instant millionaires by cutting up the newspaper. Unfortunately, there would be so much of this self-made money floating around it would be worthless. Most money, however, is not paper or metal. Most money is just numbers. When people get paid these days, they usually receive something with numbers written on it.