Gold is a precious metal and is used for a variety of purposes, including jewelry. Many people choose to have their wedding rings made from gold because they like the bright yellow color. Plus, gold can be a symbol of great wealth, that’s why there are some people who go a little bit overboard with the amount of gold jewelry they wear! If you’re interested in learning more interesting facts about gold, then continue reading.
Interesting Facts
It’s a soft metal
Gold is an extremely soft metal, which means it can be easily manipulated to form other shapes. Plus, the softness of gold means that it is ideal for jewelry since you can easily add other gems and rocks to the gold.
Used in jewelry
Pure gold is mostly used in jewelry where it is referred to as 24 Karat gold. Different alloys of gold are also used in jewelry and are normally categorized as 22k, 18k, 14k or 10k, depending on the percentage of the other metals used with gold.
Recycling gold
Recycling gold has always been popular. The chances are that some of the gold found in modern-day jewelry has actually come from the melting of ancient coins and other artifacts made from gold.
Used in cars
Although gold is often associated with wealth, it also has practical applications. Indeed, some cars use gold to help with heat dissipation.
It is non-toxic
As well as the fact that gold has a distinctive and attractive appearance, it also has the benefit of being non-toxic to humans. Consequently, you could ingest liquid gold without coming to any harm. Indeed, there are a number of alcoholic drinks that actually contain gold. However, compounds of gold, including gold chloride, can be extremely toxic if consumed by humans.
Some people are allergic to gold
Gold may be non-toxic, but it is not uncommon for people to have skin allergies to gold. If you notice any kind of irritation while wearing gold jewelry, there is a good chance you could have an allergy to gold. It is also known that an allergy to gold actually affects women more frequently than men.
Winner of a competition
Gold is often used to represent ‘the best’. Consequently, competitors who win at the Olympics and other sporting events will receive a gold medal for coming first.
Official state mineral
Gold is the official state mineral of Alaska and has been since 1968 (see facts about Alaska).
Used as money
In the past, gold was generally used as a form of currency. Gold was turned into coins that people used to spend, but nowadays there is a tendency to use paper money as a substitute for gold.
The largest consumer of gold
The largest consumer of gold is India but China is quickly catching up.
Gold in the ocean
Gold can be found in a variety of places, including in some of the world’s oceans (see facts about the ocean). Yet, to extract this gold is highly impractical, as it would cost too much to make it a profitable venture.
The first discovery of gold in the US
In the United States, gold was first discovered at the Reed Gold Mine, located near Georgeville, North Carolina in 1803.
Resistant to air and water
Gold is so commonly used in the production of coins and jewelry because it doesn’t react with air or water as so many other metals do. Clearly, you don’t want your jewelry to suddenly turn a different color when exposed to the air!
Fun Facts
- Aurophobia is the fear of gold.
- Olympic Gold Medals only contain 1.34% of gold.
- 3 Olympic swimming pools can hold all the gold ever mined in the world.
- Over 6 milligrams of gold are lost every year from a Wedding Ring just by wearing it.
- In 2014, Dubai launched a program that pays children 2 grams of gold for every kilogram (2.2 pounds) of weight they lose.
