Gold - Secrets of the Treasure
Ξ March 28th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ jewelry shop |
Gold is one of the most alluring substances throughout history. It is a metal that has no equal in many ways besides just monetary value. Entire civilizations have been altered because of it. The Phoenicians were the first known civilization to use it as money and our current monetary system is still based on it and probably will continue to for some time. The first known method of gathering was panning in ancient times leading up to full scale tunnel mining and open casting in Europe during the time of the Roman Empire. Panning is still done today and the fine particles found in streams are called alluvial or simply nuggets. Interesting to note gold nuggets have three to four times more value than the actual amount of gold that they contain by weight. It is more rare to find a one ounce gold nugget than a five-carat diamond. The largest one found was in California and weighed 195 pounds. The natural metal usually occurs in quartz and in igneous rocks or surface concentrations with sulfide minerals.
The fascination with gold continued to peak in Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries where vast quantities of gold were brought from the new world and sent back to Europe by the Spanish. In 1848 during digging for a sawmill’s water wheel in California a discovery of the first major amount of gold was found that caused the Gold Rush of 1849. The rush only lasted until 1853 in which an estimated $500 million in gold was found. Australia had their gold rush in 1851 and South Africa in 1880’s. The current largest mine in the western hemisphere is in Lead, South Dakota which was opened in 1877 and still brings in $18 million in gold per year. Currently South African mines are the highest producing in the world at 296 tonnes per year followed by Australia at 293 tonnes and the US at 292 tonnes per year.
The oldest know jewelry is dated to 3500 B.C. unearthed in Bulgaria which were small figurines and the artifacts of ancient Egypt dated at about this time. The greatest gold artists known were the ancient Egyptians, mining their medium from the desert, and Nubia, and panning it from the Nile river.
Governments have preferred to have their money backed by gold because it gives stability to the paper money. In 1816 Great Britain went on the gold standard, pounds sterling could only be exchanged for gold not silver. In 1873 the United States established the gold standard. Nations now rely on the International Gold Standard maintained by by the International Monetary Fund. The largest depository of gold is in the Federal Reserve Bank in New York which contained an estimated 315 million troy ounces. The current pricing of gold is by the open market.
Some of the most amazing properties of gold is that it is one of the most heavy and malleable substances known . A single ounce of gold can be drawn into a thin wire 60 miles long and it can be hammered so thin sunlight can go through it but can still block ultraviolet rays. It is currently used for this effect in astronaut helmets and some skyscraper windows. Most acids will not harm it like other metals. It is not chemically changed by heat or corroded by oxygen.
There are little known and incredible facts about gold. All the mined gold in the world could be compressed into an eighteen yard cube. A one foot square cube of gold would weigh approximately 1000 pounds. In every cubic mile of sea water there is approximately twenty five tons of gold but no known way to harvest it economically. Platinum can be transformed into gold using nuclear reaction. The World Cup Trophy is solid 18 carat gold. The estimated gold mined throughout history is estimated at 155,500 tonnes. The highest amount gold traded for was $850 an ounce on January 21, 1980 and the all-time low $252.90 on June 21, 1999.
The weight of gold is calculated in troy ounces which are twelve to a pound. Troy ounces are divided into twenty units called pennyweights (dwt). One troy ounce=480 grains, one troy ounce = 33.3 grams, and one pennyweight = 24 grains. Since 1975 the purity of gold was measured in Karats, 24 Karats is the most pure but sometimes too soft for many applications. Eighteen Karats is 75% pure, 10 Karats is 41.7% pure. The term carat is a very similar term and used for gemstones with 1 unit equal to 200 milligrams or 100 points. The color of pure gold (yellow) can be changed by adding other metals to it. Three parts gold to one part pink copper gives red. Three parts gold to three parts fine silver gives green. Arsenic or steel filings added can give a gray or blue color. The effects in jewelry that these mixtures produce are something to see.
Gold is one of the most intriguing and incredible substances known. New and exciting uses of gold should continue to be seen in the future.
To see some amazing gold jewelry visit http://www.amazing-adventure.com/Jewelry/AlleJewelry.htm
Glenn Heitkoetter is a part-time writer and runs the following websites; http://www.amazing-adventure.com and http://www.incredible-items.com