Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26167440-20160111225919/@comment-679780-20160123014827

Gold rings are an extremely persistant gameplay element that I regard them as part of canon even if they're very minor to the story. Some cutscenes mention gold rings (such as Sonic Generations last cutscene with Tails and Circus Park being funded entirely from stolen rings from around the world, which again Tails mentioned) Plus I'm pretty sure gold rings are an intenrational currency in Sonic's world also. Theres billions across the world but I don't think they're infinite.

I believe the Chaos Emeralds energy is indeed infinite, just need a bit of a time-out after excessive and massive use, which they pop back to the Special Zone for it. I don't think they get weak, very least their powers become "instable" and the environment of the Special Zone stablizes them. But they're still good to go if you go in the Special Stages and get them one by one before they return to Earth by themselves.