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Precious Metal Information
Precious metals are rare, natural, and metallic chemical elements that are highly valuable; examples of which include rhodium, ruthenium, palladium, iridium, platinum, and the best-known, silver and gold.
Facts About Gold
Some interesting facts about gold explain why it remains to be a popular choice in jewelry, art, and currency. Gold’s chemical symbol is Au, which is short for the Latin word for gold, ‘Aurum’ (meaning ‘Glowing Dawn’). Gold has a melting point of 1064 degrees centigrade and a boiling point of 2808 degrees centigrade. The word ‘gold’ is based on the Anglo-Saxon word which means, “yellow”.
The origin and history of gold sightings and its use begin in the very distant past. Although historical sources cannot pinpoint the precise date that gold was first used, it can be claimed that gold was probably the first metal known to the ancient civilizations whose people were likely to find gold in soils, sands, and streams. Archaeologists have found gold bits in Spanish caves during the era of the Paleolithic Man, approximately 40,000 B.C. Some believe gold’s debut was made circa 6000 B.C. while some have recorded that pharaohs and temple priests in Egypt circa 3000 B.C., have used gold to embellish palaces and temples, to create relics and amulets, and to adorn themselves with it. The citizens of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, currently Western Turkey, have claimed to be the first people to have used gold as currency in 700 B.C.
Gold is first known for its rarity, but other facts about gold make it even more precious. Gold is the most malleable among all metals, meaning it can be hammered and flattened into very thin sheets. It’s also the most ductile, which means gold can be drawn into fine wire. Some trivia about gold’s malleability and ductility: a goldsmith can hammer an ounce of gold metal into an extremely thin sheet that can occupy more than 100 square feet at only 5 millionths of an inch thick! Those gold sheets are so fine that it would require 1,000 sheets to resemble the thickness of a newspaper page. On the other hand, one ounce of gold can be drawn into a 50 mile long wire. In addition, one ounce of gold is all that it takes to plate a 1,000 mile long copper thread.
And of course, some other commonly known gold facts include its density, virtual indestructibility, and its luster, truly making it fit for royalty and coveted by many.
Gold has a density of 19.32 g/cm3, which consequentially gives it an atomic weight of 196.9665 g/atom. In simpler terms, this means that a one liter carton of gold weighs 19.3 kg, so it is about 20 times heavier than water. Gold’s heaviness means that any large amounts of gold can be stored in relatively small spaces, such as bank vaults.
Gold, in its pure state, is too soft and weak for use in jewelry making. To make it more workable, gold is mixed with other metals to gain strength and structure. Alloys are defined as a mixture of metals. So when it comes to jewelry, karat grade is utilized to state the proportion and quality of gold in an alloy. Historically, a karat was the unit of mass used by the early merchants in the Middle East. Today, karat is used to express the quality and purity of gold, with pure gold being equivalent to 24 karats.
It is required by law that all authentic jewelry be stamped so consumers will readily know the quality of gold that was used. Jewelry sold in North America is normally marked with the karat grade such as 10k, 14k, or 18k; while in other countries, jewelry may be marked based on its fineness, expressed in a 3 digit number such as 417, 583, or 750. For example, 14k gold facts include that jewelry stamped as such would mean it is 14 parts gold to alloy (14/24) and equivalent to 583 in fineness. Here are additional gold facts about karats and their equivalents:
Jewelry that is stamped 10K is 10 parts gold to alloy (10/24) and equivalent to 417 in fineness. 18k is 18 parts gold to alloy (18/24) and equivalent to 750 in fineness. 22k is 22 parts gold to alloy (22/24) and equivalent to 917 in fineness. Lastly, 24k is 24 parts gold to alloy (24/24), and is 1000 or pure in fineness.
This is the same scale that is used by gold buyers to determine the value of the jewelry they receive. At Cash4Gold, we base our prices on the melt values of such precious metals. The melt or intrinsic value is verified by the weight, quality, and the daily selling price of the metal being sold.
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