Interesting Facts About Gold

Gold is a highly valued precious metal that has a bright yellow color. It is seen as a symbol of a person’s wealth. This post will tell you some fun and interesting facts about gold that you probably don't know!


1. Gold is probably the first metal that prehistoric humans had processed. The age of the gold jewelry which archaeologist found in Bulgaria can date back to 4000 BC. So, the Age of gold emerged just overlapped with the Stone Age.
2. The 7th century BC, gold wire was used to install false tooth by Italian dentist. Since the early 16th century, gold filling was recommended for filling the cavity.
3. In Aztec, gold is written as “teocuitlatl”, which means “Gold’s shit”.
4. Gold with high ductility and malleability. With casting, a piece of one ounce of gold can be turned into five millionths inch thick semi-transparent gold. Or can be stretched to fifty miles long and five microns in diameter, equivalent to one-tenth of the diameter of a hair.
5. The precious metal also has the characteristics of difficult to destroy. From ancient times to the present, it has been said that “Gold has its price.” So we can recycle them. All the gold discovered in the past, eighty-five percent are still in use today.
6. Outside the lunar module of the United States “Apollo ” airship was coated with gold foil, with the aim to protect astronauts from radiation. Even now, the helmet worn by astronauts is still coated with a thin gold membrane to protect astronaut’s eyes from intense light.
7. The methods of refining gold will destroy the environment in some extent. Gold mine will dumped a lot of cyanide into the ditch, and pour the nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides into the air.
8. In gold reserve, the United States ranks first in the world. However, if included the gold ornaments, then India will grab the top spot, twenty percent of the gold used as decoration in the world, were used in Indian saris.
9. On the surface of the Earth, the greatest concentration of gold is in ocean, it’s estimated at around one hundred million tons. Unfortunately, so far no one has found an effective method to extract gold from the ocean.
10. However, compared with the gold reserves in space, that is dwarfed. According to the data of NEAR airship sent back in 1999. The amount of gold at one planet of “Eros” is more than the sum of that has ever been mined on the earth. Regrettably, we don’t know how to mine the gold in space.
11. As pure gold is very soft, it is often combined with other things when making jewelry.
12. Gold has been recycled ever since it was first discovered. Some of the gold in today’s jewelry is recycled from ancient artifacts and coins!
13. Some cars use gold for heat dissipation.
14. Pure gold is non-toxic to human and does not cause any irritation when ingested. In fact, some alcoholic drinks contain metallic gold. Compounds of gold, such as gold chloride, are toxic to humans.
15. Gold can cause allergies on the skin. This allergy affects more women than men.
16. Great achievements are often rewarded with gold- such as gold medals in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.
17. In 1968, gold was made the official state mineral of Alaska.
18. Throughout history, gold coins were often used as money. These have largely been replaced by paper money.
19. India is the largest consumer of gold.
20. There is some gold in the world’s oceans. However, there is only a small amount making it impractical to extract it from the oceans. It would cost more to extract it than you would make from selling the gold!
21. The first discovery of gold in the United States was at the Reed Gold Mine near Georgeville, North Carolina in 1803.
22. There is only one stable isotope of gold. Over thirty-five other radioactive isotopes of gold have been artificially produced.
23. Gold is perfect for use in coins and jewelry as it does not react with air or water like many other metals.