David,
You're missing the point, which is that "money", when it has no
intrinsic value (or backed by that which has intrinsic value, for
example, precious metals), become only, as another on the thread aptly
put it, "a means of keeping score", and is based on faith.
Granted that money is a special form of asset because of its other roles
as a unit of account and medium of exchange but in terms of having no
intrinsic value it's not really alone as bonds, stock certificates,
checks or arcade tokens don't have any intrinsic value either, and
aren't generally backed by anything that has intrinsic value (except
maybe the tokens, which are backed by a promise of a real "service").
The "difference" is that all the above (except the tokens) are backed by
a promise of money, which, as we have determined, has no intrinsic
value, so, in that sense, they're all issued and acquired based on the
same faith of the financial system's stability plus some faith in the
stability of the debtor.
Au contrere (contraire?), bonds are *secured* debt (say, by that factory
that was built from the proceeds of the bond sale), and stock cer-
tificates confer partial ownership, and, thus, if the corporation
were to be liquidated, the holder of the stock certificate(s) would
get an appropriate % of the net assets.