Beads of Bali

Overview

Gold is a rare and precious metal that has long been valued for its beauty. Its symbol is Au, which comes from the Latin word for gold, "aurum." The word "gold" itself  is derived from "geolo," the Old English word for the color yellow.

Gold has many characteristics that makes it particularly useful in jewelry-making:

• Gold does not easily oxidize (tarnish) when exposed to the elements.


• It is easily formed (malleable). One troy ounce of gold can be rolled into a thin sheet of 10 square feet (that's 38 inches square). Gold can even be formed into very thin wires and used to create lacy jewelry known as filigree.


• Gold is a heavy metal, giving jewelry made from it a feeling of substance.


• Gold does not react to most chemicals and is thus resistant to damage.


• Its low melting point makes it easy to work with.


• Its bright yellow color and luster gives it great beauty.


• It is a "store of value," which allows gold jewelry to be treated as an investment. For most of human recorded history gold has, in fact, been used as money along with other precious metals.  Paper money is a relatively new invention.

Most gold mined today is used in jewelry and coinage.  Gold is also a great conductor of electricity and is sometimes used for critical contact points in electronics. It continues to be used in dentistry, though not as much as in years gone by.

History of Gold

The World Gold Council reports that gold ores were first smelted to extract gold in about 3600 BC in Egypt.Gold jewelry dating back to 2600 BC has been found in ancienty Mesopotamia.

The methods of gold jewelry-making continued to be refined in the following centuries. For example, the Council reports that the lost-wax casting method was developed around 1200-1500 BC.

In about 600 BC gold was first used in dentistry to fabricate substitute teeth.

In the year 564 BC the first international gold-based currency was developed by King Croesus of Lydia,in a region that is now a part of Turkey.

In the 1300 AD period, the English developed quality hallmarking regulations.

In 1511, King Ferdinand sent his troops to the Americas, in part to rob the Inca and Aztec people of their gold.

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