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If you are fascinated by gold, as most humans have been for
the past 7,000 years, then you might find the following facts about the
beautiful metal that you may be wearing on your neck, wrists and fingers to be
quite interesting and in some cases surprising as well
Gold and copper were the first metals to be discovered by
man, around 5000BC, and together with silver these three metals are found in
the metallic state in the earth's crust.
Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the mining and
production of gold was halted for nearly 1000 years until the Spanish
discovered America
in 1492.
In the 14th century, the Incas, who considered gold
"the sweat of the sun," conquered the Chimu Empire and made Chimu
goldsmiths cover every inch of their Temple
of the Sun's walls in gold.
In the 15th century, gold inspired Cortes to defeat
Montezuma in Mexico and
seize the Aztec's vast gold stores in an effort to revive Spain's economy.
In 1531, Pizarro
invaded Peru and captured
the Incas' ruler Atahualpa and immediately melted down all of the Inca gold and
sent it back to Spain
Gold mining took on much larger dimension after the
discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill on the American
River (California) in 1848.
The gold that was discovered in Australia
and South Africa
contributed to a supplementary increase in the world’s gold supply and marked a
turning point in the history of gold. Once a rare metal, gold now became more
attainable by people of all classes.
In the modern era, Italy has remained at the forefront
of the gold jewelry industry. The Italian Renaissance coincided with the
discoveries of new sources of gold, and wealthy Italian patrons supported
goldsmiths as they did painters and sculptors.
The chemical symbol for gold is Au, from the Latin aurum,
which means 'shining dawn'. Aurora
was the Roman goddess of dawn which links to the warm, yellow color of gold.
Gold and copper are the only two non white colored metals.
Gold is still mined in its metallic form in over 60 countries
around the world.
Gold is referred to as a precious and a noble metal.
Gold has an excellent chemical stability with a high
resistance to corrosion and oxidation.
The purity of gold is measured in Carats or Karats. A Carat
was originally a unit of weight based on the carob bean, used by ancient
merchants in the Middle East.
The Carat is still used for the weight of gem stones where 1
carat = 200mg. Pure gold is 24 carats.
In Europe, 18 and 14 carat alloys are commonly used in
jewelry while nine carat gold is popular in Britain. Many countries require
every item of gold jewelry to be clearly stamped with its caratage. This hallmarking system was developed in London in the 14th century
at Goldsmiths' Hall.
All of the gold in the world could be compressed into an
18-yard cube, which is about 1/10 the mass of the Washington Monument.
It is believed that only 88,000 tons of gold have been taken
from the earth since recorded history, leaving far more yet to be discovered.
A one-ounce gold nugget is rarer and harder to find than a
five-carat diamond.
Even though gold is rare, it is far easier to find than
winning a major state lottery.
Gold is so heavy that one cubic foot of it weighs half a
ton. Gold is six to seven times heavier than other materials that equal its
size. The largest gold nugget found in the U.S.
weighed 195 pounds; it came from California.
A single ounce of gold can be drawn into a wire 60 miles
long. Gold can be hammered so thin that
sunlight can shine through it. Gold
can be hammered into sheets so thin that a pile of them an inch high would
contain more than 200,000 separate sheets.
In every cubic mile of sea water there is 25 tons of gold
and there are10 billion tons of gold in the oceans.
These are just some of the
surprising facts about the world’s favorite precious metal.
Bo Carpenter of Lewis Jewelers is a jewelry expert and
frequently writes about jewelry and related topics. Lewis Jewelers is proud to
carry the full line of Pandora Bracelets, Pandora Beads and other Pandora
Jewelry. For more information, contact Lewis Jewelers at 877-88-LEWIS or visit www.pandorabraceletsusa.com.
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