History - All about Gold

Facts on Gold

• Boiling Point - Boiling point of gold is 2808 degrees centigrade.
• Melting Point - Gold melts at 1064 degrees centigrade.
• Measure of Gold - Gold is measured in Troy ounces. One Troy Ounce of Gold is 31.103 grams of gold. 
• Total Gold - Less then 175,000 Tonnes of Gold has been mined since the beginning of civilization.
• 21 Meters Cubed - All of the gold ever mined would fit into a crate of 21 meters cubed.
• 49% - Around half of gold mined today is made into jewelry, which remains the single largest use of gold. 
• Over 90% of the wolds gold has been mined since the California Gold Rush.
• 750 parts per thousand - Gold is often alloyed with other metals to change its color and strength. 18 carat gold is composed of 750 parts of pure gold per thousand.
• 80 Cm - The largest gold coin ever created was cast by the Perth Mint in 2012. Weighing one Tonne and measuring 80 cm in diameter, it surpassed the previous record, a 2007 C$1 million coin which was just 53 cm across.
• 2316 Troy Ounces - The largest ever true gold nugget weighed 2316 troy ounces when found at Moliagul in Australia in 1869. It was called the "Welcome Stranger".
• Atomic Number - The atomic Number of Gold is 79, which means there are 79 protons in the nucleus of every atom metal.
• London Good Delivery Bar - A London Good Delivery Bar, the standard unit of traded gold is made up from 400 troy ounces of gold.
• Gold is the 79th Element on the Periodic Table of Elements. 
• Of all the minerals mined from the Earth, none is more useful than gold. Its usefulness is derived from a diversity of special properties. Gold conducts electricity, does not tarnish, is very easy to work, can be drawn into wire, can be hammered into thin sheets, alloys with many other metals, can be melted and cast into highly detailed shapes, has a wonderful color and a brilliant luster.

Uses of Gold:

1. Jewellery - As stated above 49% of all gold mined is used for jewelry. 
2. Gold is still used in dentistry though in a world today where everyone is too conscious about looks, the use is getting less and less. The first book published on dentistry, entitled Artzney Buchlein, appeared in 1530. The book suggests dentists fill cavities and rotten teeth with gold. Gold is a bio-compatible metal, meaning it can be placed in contact with a person's body and not cause harm to one's health.
3. Gold is a highly efficient conductor of electricity and is used in most electronic devices, including cell phones. Gold contained in connectors, switches and relay contacts allows phones to remain free of corrosion.
4. According to the World Gold Council, a single mobile device contains up to 50 milligrams of gold. That’s a tiny amount but nearly 1 billion cell phones are produced each year. With a gold value of about 50 cents in each phone, that adds up to $500 million dollars in gold each year!
5. Gold can also be found in most standard desktop and laptop computers. The precious metal is used in a CPU’s memory chip and motherboard, allowing parts of your computer to receive power and communicate with each other.
6. Gold acts as a reliable conductor, allowing for the rapid and accurate transmission of digital data from one device to another. In fact, only silver and copper are better conductors of electricity.
7. The earliest medical use of gold can be traced back to China in 2500 BC. Chinese physicians used pure gold to treat furuncles, smallpox, skin ulcers and to remove mercury from skin and flesh, says GoldBulletin. In India Gold is even today used in various forms for ayurvedic treatments.
8. Today the metal is primarily used to treat patients with arthritis. Gold salts are used to reduce swelling, bone damage and to relieve joint pain and stiffness. It’s a slow process; patients generally receive 22 weeks of gold injections before experiencing relief.
9. Gold is highly malleable and flexible. Gold can be beaten into thin sheets, only a few millionths of an inch thick. These sheets, known as gold leaf, are displayed on buildings throughout the world, such as St. Michael’s Cathedral in Kiev, Ukraine.
10. India’s Sripuram Golden Temple is the world’s largest golden structure. The spiritual park is made out of 1.5 tons of gold. The gold leafing provides a durable and corrosion-resistant covering, says GoldPrice.com.
11. It’s truly a gold universe. Space vehicles are fitted with gold-coated polyester film to reflect infrared radiation and to help stabilize core temperatures, says Geology.com. Without gold, darker colored parts of spacecraft would absorb significant amounts of heat.
12. NASA also protects its astronauts using gold. Astronauts’ helmets are covered by the extravehicular visor assembly. The visor is coated with a thin layer of gold to filter out the sun’s harmful rays, according to NASA.
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Difference between Ounce and Troy Ounce

Most people don't realize that there is a difference between an ounce and a troy ounce. Ounce is used to measure commodities and when you go to a departmental store you could be weighed commodities in ounces, however gold is weighed in troy ounces.

One troy ounce weighs 31.1 grams

One avoirdupois ounce weighs 28.35 grams

Precious metals such as gold and silver are often sold by the troy ounce. Many people don’t realize that an ounce of gold is more than the typical ounce found at the grocery store.  In many English speaking countries there are two systems for measuring weight.One, for precious metals, called the troy ounce.The other is for Commodities such as sugar, grains, and other grocery items. It is called the avoirdupois ounce.  

It is thought that the troy ounce was named after a weight system used in Troyes France during the Middle Ages.

Tola or Tolah System for Gold used in India.
In India we typically used the tola system and gold and silver was sold in Tolas which is slighly more than 10 grams.  1 Tola [India] is equal to 11.6638125 grams. However now in the newspaper the quote for Gold price that you see is per 10 grams and increasingly the tola system is not used. 

Historical Prices of Gold (India)

Below is a link to an excel sheet which contains daily, weekly and monthly data for Gold from 1993 to 2011. In the daily history one can go to row 4612 and see how many time has gold movement been more then 50 dollars or 60 dollars or 100 dollars per day during the said period of 1993 to 2011. Just some analysis to give you an idea how volatile gold can be.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jpSuK3CRA5gh0tDFwlk8aA6Pj23wfPi7vd_GdCu8kWE/edit?usp=sharing

California Gold Rush in 1849

South African Gold Rush in 1885 started by George Hamilton.

(The Article is under construction)

Researched from - World Gold Council Website, Wikipedia, The Power of Gold by Peter Bernstein, Livescience article by Stephanie Pappas, usfunds.com, many other sources from net and books.