GLITTERING FACTS ABOUT GOLD THAT MIGHT JUST AMAZE YOU

THE WORD GOLD COMES FROM THE OLD

ENGLISH WORD GEOLU, MEANING YELLOW

THE SYMBOL FOR GOLD IS AU. THE SYMBOL COMES

FROM THE OLD LATIN NAME FOR GOLD, AURUM,

WHICH MEANS “SHINING DAWN” OR “GLOW OF SUNRISE.”

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT

AROUND 5000 BCE GOLD AND COPPER BECAME

THE FIRST METALS TO BE DISCOVERED BY HUMANS

THE FIRST RECORDED GOLD EVER DISCOVERED IN

THE UNITED STATES WAS A SEVENTEEN-POUND

NUGGET FOUND IN CABARRUS, NORTH CAROLINA.

WHEN MORE GOLD WAS DISCOVERED IN LITTLE

MEADOW CREEK, NORTH CAROLINA, IN 1803,

THE FIRST US GOLD RUSH BEGAN

GOLD MELTS AT 1,064.43° CELSIUS AND IT CAN

CONDUCT BOTH HEAT AND ELECTRICITY.

IT ALSO NEVER RUSTS

TWENTY-FOUR KARAT GOLD IS PURE ELEMENTAL

GOLD. EIGHTEEN KARAT GOLD IS SEVENTY-FIVE

PERCENT PURE GOLD. FOURTEEN KARAT GOLD IS

58.5 PERCENT PURE GOLD, AND TEN KARAT GOLD

IS 41.7 PERCENT PURE GOLD. THE REMAINING

PORTION OF THE METAL IS USUALLY SILVER,

BUT MAY CONSIST OF OTHER METALS OR A

COMBINATION OF METALS, SUCH AS PLATINUM,

COPPER, PALLADIUM, ZINC, NICKEL, IRON

AND CADMIUM

A CARAT IS USED TO MEASURE THE PURITY OF GOLD

AND COMES FROM WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY A UNIT OF

MASS BASED ON THE CAROB SEED USED BY

ANCIENT MERCHANTS

THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS NAME COMES FROM THE

CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH GOLD SEEKERS WHO CAME

TO THE SAN FRANCISCO AREA IN 1849

THE WORLD’S LARGEST STOCKPILE OF GOLD CAN BE

FOUND FIVE STORIES UNDERGROUND INSIDE THE

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK’S VAULT.

IT HOLDS TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THE WORLD’S

GOLD RESERVE (540,000 GOLD BARS). FOR THE

RECORD, MOST OF IT BELONGS TO FOREIGN

GOVERNMENTS