Gold is a solid store of value. That’s about it. It isn’t a terribly good investment as it just doesn’t gain value very fast compared to inflation. But, as I said, it is a solid store of value, so if that is what you are looking for, it isn’t a bad option.

If you want to invest, you are better off with index funds held over the long term.

invested a lot in gold under the belief that in the event of like complete societal collapse

If that happens, a better investment is to make yourself as self-sufficient as possible. Have a way to generate power (solar + batteries), acquire water (well water), sewage (leech field), stored food (just extra cans of food you normally eat), acquire food (a rifle and somewhere deer exist), security (that same rifle).

None of that is expensive or hard to get. But all of those are what you would want if you are worried about societal collapse.