Yeah you can still do it, just:
1, put all 37 gold bars up your ass (inventory),
2. go to next to the door Elijah comes up (the left one, not the one he uses to get near the vault),
3. put the gold bar near the force field, shoot it with a gun to get it as close as possible to the force field. (if that don't work, use more gun).
4. Kill Elijah and run like hell until you reach the exit.
5. Go in third person and pick up the 37 gold bars outside the force field.
6. Walk away knowing you were not able to let it go because you were never really an Ice Queen.

Aside from their use in electrical components, the gold standard made a comeback for currency; Legion coinage is made from precious metals including gold, and within living memory NCR's paper money was gold-backed until the Brotherhood dirty-bombed their reserves.