Have you ever wondered why gold is more valuable than any other metal in the world? All kinds of jewelry and industries, glass production, aviation and space industries simply could not exist without it.
But why is gold so valuable in the world? To understand this, you need to know all its physical and chemical properties as a metal and, therefore, what determines its wide distribution in the world.
Gold and the ancient world
About 6,000 years ago, people began to meaningfully mine gold in Egypt. The oldest deposit of this precious metal, Nubia, hid about 6,000 tons. The first gold was mined by washing sands through cloth. Then they began to use more labor-intensive methods: separating the ore from the entire rock and grinding it.
Gold was used as a trade currency, a metal for making jewelry, dishes, weapons and armor for warriors. Since the ancient times of the emergence of mankind, this metal has been very common throughout the world.
How gold is mined
North-Eastern Siberia, Kuranakh ore field.
Photo: PJSC Polyus Gold mining is carried out in the following countries: South Africa, Australia, USA, Canada, Russia, China and Pakistan. One of the largest gold mines is the Aurora mine, located in Guyana, Africa.
In ancient times, pieces of gold were simply found in a river or earth. During the Gold Rush, gold was mined by hand using a pick and shovel. By 1853, hydraulic mining had emerged and replaced independent gold miners. Today, gold is mined in large open-pit or underground mines.
The process begins with geologists taking samples of the ore to determine the best places to mine. Once mining engineers know where the gold is and what other materials surround it, the mining process can begin.
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If gold is located close to the surface, it is mined by open-pit mining. In fact, a huge hole is dug in the ground, along the inner perimeter of which a road goes down like a spiral. Equipment for mining and moving ore goes down and up along this road.
Chemical and physical properties
- Gold is a low-melting metal and therefore the most malleable. Melting point - 1064°C. Without heating, it can be forged into a layer about 0.1 microns thick. The most interesting thing is that in any form the metal retains its inherent properties. It will not be difficult for an experienced blacksmith to forge any, even the most elegant, figurine from this metal. Thanks to this plasticity, gold is used to cover temple domes and even create ultra-thin wires for microcircuits.
- From a physics point of view, metal is good because it has low resistance and, at the same time, good thermal conductivity; it is also resistant to all kinds of oxidative processes (corrosion, etc.). Why gold is valued in science is because it has the ability to reflect infrared rays and, in particular, light. This determines the use of gold in the glazing of aircraft and all kinds of aircraft models, astronaut helmets and sea vessels.
- Why is gold valued by jewelers? This metal lends itself well to all kinds of processing (soldering, polishing, etc.), and also easily forms alloys with any elements. These properties have become a powerful argument for taking the position of primacy of the main precious metal and raw material in the jewelry industry.
- As a chemical substance, gold is an inert metal, meaning it does not react with natural substances. The only exception is mirror amalgam (gold and mercury). As a result, its dissolution in acids, alkalis, and, in principle, under normal conditions is excluded. Unless in “aqua regia” (a solution that is a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids) of a concentrated form and under some other special conditions.
- Gold is a weak metal, which means another advantage is that it can be easily reduced to pure metal from any compound. For example, for amalgam, only 800°C is sufficient.
Gold in medicine
All the properties described above clearly show the value of gold. Since ancient times, people have even associated healing properties with this metal. It was believed that it could cure any human ailment: relieve pain, cure allergies, improve memory, increase endurance and simply eliminate the effects of stress. Moreover, there was no need to carry out any special procedures; it was enough to just wear gold jewelry. Some healers believed that this metal could even prolong life.
Why is gold valued today? Followers of alternative medicine also believe that it will help those who have problems with the liver, heart, skin, reproductive system, as well as in the prevention of influenza and other seasonal diseases, because this precious metal kills viruses and pathogens.
Also in cosmetology, products containing a certain proportion of colloidal gold have advantages.
What determines the color of a gold item?
Jewelers call the substance in its pure form red gold. Because it is soft and susceptible to deformation, it is not used for smelting jewelry. But in order to improve the quality of the product, give it a special color and shine, pure gold is used in alloys. To obtain a yellow tint, it is mixed with silver and copper, red - with a large amount of copper, white - with palladium, platinum and nickel (this alloy is considered the most noble, but nickel is rarely used, as it can cause an allergic reaction). To add a white shine, a thin layer of rhodium can be applied to the jewelry to increase the strength of the product and its anti-corrosion properties.
A little history
This metal is truly eternal; it will not lose its attractive appearance, will not evaporate or break. This makes it simply a unique means for storing personal savings; bullion has always acted as a guarantor of stability and we will talk about the reasons for this a little later.
For ancient people, it was quite simple to obtain yellow metal: nuggets were easy to find, using even simple tools to give them the desired shape, and then use them as decoration or as a means of payment. Chemical stability and strength have led to gold being used as a currency for thousands of years.
Even ancient civilizations realized that it could serve as a measure of the value of other goods or a person’s status. So, the more gold a person had, the richer and more respected he was considered.
Anyone could buy several bags of grain, livestock and even slaves for a certain amount of gold coins. Thanks to the introduction of gold coins into circulation as money, humanity gradually came to the conclusion that the price of any product can be converted into a money coefficient.
After this, all currencies of states began to be correlated with gold reserves. Simply put, the value of a unit of currency is determined by the amount of gold that backs it and is in the treasury of the state.
The less gold there is per unit, the less valuable the currency is, and vice versa - the larger the country’s gold reserves, the more reliable the currency will be considered. You can print as much money as you like, but if it is not backed up by gold and foreign exchange reserves, it is useless.
Initially, they tried to mint coins from different metals, but it was gold ones that were always valued the most. Some, by the way, have survived well to this day; now their price is simply fabulous. It is worth noting that the cost of white gold is usually higher than yellow gold. Why is this happening?
This white metal can be noble (when it is an alloy of gold with other noble white metals: silver, palladium, etc.) and base (alloys with zinc or nickel). It is logical that the price of such a noble metal will be significantly higher than simple yellow gold products.
What color of decoration should you choose?
Rose and yellow gold were considered low-grade and practically unsuitable for jewelry set with precious stones. But during the Soviet era, rose gold was very common; its popularity is explained by the fact that it looks beautiful and has a relatively low cost.
The most luxurious and expensive metal of the upper class of society is white gold. It has excellent quality characteristics and, due to the high content of silver and palladium, a fairly high price.
Speaking from a fashion perspective, both white and yellow gold are equally in trend now, since the design of the product plays a significant role, and not the color or weight of the metal.
The essence
From a basic point of view, gold is the most logical choice as a medium of exchange for goods and services. The metal is enough to create coins, but rare enough that not everyone can make them. Gold does not corrode, providing a stable store of value, and people are physically and emotionally drawn to it. Society and economics attach value to gold, thus perpetuating its value.
Gold is the metal we will turn to when other forms of currency don't work, meaning gold will always have value in both good and bad times.
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Gold classification (fineness concept)
The cost of the product does not depend on the color, but is determined by the fineness, that is, the amount of gold contained in the alloy.
Since jewelry is not made of pure gold, but of alloys with various metals, you need to ensure that jewelry does not interact with substances that contain iodine, mercury and chlorine.
The more craftsmen worked with this metal, the more varieties it appeared. How do you know which gold is more valuable?
For this purpose, all jewelry has a hallmark, for example, if it says 500 hallmark, it means that the product contains 50% pure gold. Accordingly, the higher the sample, the higher the cost.
A fair question arises: which standard of gold is valued higher? 999 is the highest mark of metal quality. But jewelers don't use it. It has found its application exclusively in coating all kinds of silver and other surfaces of products, protecting them from corrosion (tinsel). 585 and 750 samples are especially in demand among jewelers.
Gold, Mysterious Metal
While silver can be polished and textured in many ways to attract light and make a statement, there is no metal quite like gold. Unlike other elements, gold naturally comes in many unique and beautiful colors. The atoms in gold are actually heavier than those in silver and other metals. This attribute causes electrons to move faster, which in turn allows some of the light to be absorbed by the gold, a process that Einstein's theory of relativity helped identify.
Short review
Perhaps gold's physical property of absorbing light makes it literally shine from within.
Comparison of 585 and 750
In Russia, these samples are most common, because they have an affordable price-quality ratio, which is why they are popular among a large number of the population of the post-Soviet space.
If we talk about 585 sample, it should be noted that it is very practical for daily use, even if you work in production.
But many are inclined to believe that since 750 gold has a higher gold content, it is definitely better. This is wrong. The more pure gold there is in a product, the softer it is, not as wear-resistant, and it can be accidentally damaged. Typically, it is more appropriate to purchase products of such a high standard for celebrations or other special occasions in your life.
How to buy a quality product
When the question is already closed: “Why is gold valued?”, we can talk about what you should pay attention to when buying products made from this noble metal.
First, find out the sample of the product and compare it with the sample on the tag. The jewelry must have a special stamp from the manufacturer - a kind of guarantor of quality and authenticity. Also, don’t forget to check the tag. It contains all the necessary information about the product, manufacturer, composition, weight, and so on.
Pay attention to the appearance of the product. Make sure that all fastenings and soldering points are of good quality. Also, there are no unevenness or pronounced defects in the jewelry.
Pliable
As we got to know each other, gold revealed its secrets to us. We learned to purify, melt and process it long before our era. Our favorite metal delighted us with its strength, flexibility and beauty. Initially, household items, jewelry and even weapons were made from it.
Over time, its unique properties began to instill a love for this beautiful metal. Which ultimately led to real passion. This is also one of the reasons why gold is expensive.
