Shop Online
GOLD
Gold is a highly prized precious metal that for millennia has been used as money, a store of value and in jewelry. The metal occurs as nuggets or grains in rocks and in alluvial deposits and is one of the coinage metals. It is a soft, shiny, yellow, dense, malleable, and ductile (trivalent and univalent) transition metal. Modern industrial uses include dentistry and electronics. Gold forms the basis for a monetary standard used by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
Pure gold is too soft for ordinary use and is hardened by alloying with silver, copper, and other metals. Gold and its many alloys are most often used in jewelry, coinage and as a standard for monetary exchange in various countries. When selling it in the form of jewelry, gold is measured in karats (k), with pure gold being 24k. However, it is more commonly sold in lower measurements of 20k, 18k, and 14k. A lower "k" indicates a higher percent of copper or silver mixed into the alloy, with copper being the more commonly used metal between the two. Fourteen karat gold-copper alloy will be nearly identical in color to certain bronze alloys, and both may be used to produce police and other badges. Eighteen karat gold with a high copper content is found in some antique jewelry and will have a distinct, though not dominant copper cast, giving an attractively warm color. A similar karat weight when alloyed with silvery metals will appear less warm in color, and some low karat white metal alloys may be sold as "white gold", silvery in appearance with a sightly yellow cast but far more resistant to corrosion than silver or sterling silver. Karat weights of twenty and higher are more common in modern jewelry. Because of its high electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion and other desirable combinations of physical and chemical properties, gold also emerged in the late 20th century as an essential industrial metal, particularly as a thin plating on electrical card contacts and connectors.
History
Gold has been known and highly valued since prehistoric times. It may have been the first metal used by humans and was valued for ornamentation and rituals. Egyptian hieroglyphs from as early as 2600 BCE describe gold, which king Tushratta of the Mitanni claimed was as "common as dust" in Egypt. Egypt and Nubia had the resources to make them major gold-producing areas for much of history. Gold is also mentioned several times in the Old Testament. The south-east corner of the Black Sea was famed for its gold. Exploitation is said to date from the time of Midas, and this gold was important in the establishment of what is probably the world's earliest coinage in Lydia between 643 and 630 BCE.
The European exploration of the Americas was fueled in no small part by reports of the gold ornaments displayed in great profusion by Native American peoples, especially in Central America, Peru, and Colombia.
Gold has long been considered one of the most precious metals, and its value has been used as the standard for many currencies (known as the gold standard) in history. Gold has been used as a symbol for purity, value, royalty, and particularly roles that combine these properties (see gold album). Gold as a sign of wealth and prestige was made fun of by Thomas More in his treatise Utopia. On that imaginary island, gold is so abundant that it is used to make chains for slaves, tableware and lavatory-seats. When ambassadors from other countries arrive, dressed in ostentatious gold jewels and badges, the Utopians mistake them for menial servants, paying homage instead to the most modestly-dressed of their party.
There is an age-old tradition of biting gold in order to test its authenticity. Although this is certainly not a professional way of examining gold, the bite test should score the gold because gold is considered a soft metal according to the Mohs' scale of mineral hardness. The purer the gold the easier it should be to mark it. Painted lead can cheat this test because lead is softer than gold.
Gold in antiquity was relatively easy to obtain geologically; however, 75% of all gold ever produced has been extracted since 1910. It has been estimated that all the gold in the world that has ever been refined would form a single cube 20 m (66 ft) a side. The primary goal of the alchemists was to produce gold from other substances, such as lead — presumably by the interaction with a mythical substance called the philosopher's stone. Although they never succeeded in this attempt, the alchemists promoted an interest in what can be done with substances, and this laid a foundation for today's chemistry. Their symbol for gold was the circle with a point at its center (☉), which was also the astrological symbol, the Egyptian hieroglyph and the ancient Chinese character for the Sun (now 日). For modern attempts to produce artificial gold, see gold synthesis.
During the 19th century, gold rushes occurred whenever large gold deposits were discovered, including the California, Colorado, Otago, Australian, Witwatersrand, Black Hills, and Klondike gold rushes.
Because of its historically high value, much of the gold mined throughout history is still in circulation in one form or another.
