Gold (Au Metal)

One of the reasons that gold is so valuable is because of its scarcity. Besides the fact that it is hard to find, it is also hard to mine and refine. Gold has to go through many stages in processing to finally make it pure. Once separated from the ore, gold is refined and processed into powder, granules, foil, wire, sheets, rods, bars, or in ingots weighing up to four hundred ounces. Gold also exists in pure form, mostly as raw material (for electronics) or bullion (for backing up currency). Pure gold is too soft for practical use (like jewelry), in the industry or the arts. So, before being used, most of it is diluted into harder alloys with other metals such as silver, copper, nickel, or zinc. Such alloy metals also tint the gold in varying shades of yellow, green, pink, red, or white.

Gold's purity is expressed in units called "karats" (or "carats"), broken down into fractions of twenty-fourths. Therefore, 24-karat gold is pure gold. Another unit used is called "fine," which measures the propor-tion of pure gold in an alloy, the maximum being a thousand.

Thus, pure 24-karat gold is also 1000 fine. Actually, a little leeway is allowed, and any gold that is at least 99.5% clean - or 995 fine -is ranked as pure or fine gold. Gold stamped 18k is eighteen parts of gold inked with six parts of other metals. Thus, it is 75% pure or 750 fine. The 14-karat alloy commonly used in American jewelry is a little better than 58% gold.
Instead of avoirdupois, gold is weighed according to the troy system. There are 480 grains to a troy ounce, compared to 437 grains in an ounce avoirdupois. So the troy ounce is a little heavier. Due to its great density, one cubic inch of gold weighs about ten troy ounces, or nearly a pound.

Private Ownership & Coins:

In addition to the larger items of bullion, such as bars or ingots, gold coins of assorted sizes and shapes have been minted for more than two thousand years, until 1934. Then, in 1980, the United States Government once again started issuing limited quantities of gold for sale to the public. Many other countries mint coins, medallions, wafers, or small bars of pure gold bullion are for public sale. Austria, Hungary, Great Britain, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, and others mint such items in various weights and denominations. South Africa, which mines approximately 700 tons of gold annually, is by far the world's largest producer. And the South African Krugerrand, round bullion coins that come in several sizes, have long been favored by collectors.

In all these various forms, gold simply represents wealth. How secure the wealth is depends upon the constantly fluctuating price of gold, and those who deal in it take that risk.

Gold in World Industry:

Now a days, large amounts of gold are consumed by industry. Being non-corrosive and because it has excellent properties for conducting electricity, gold is widely used in sensitive electronic devices. A very thin film of gold can carry the same electrical load that once re-quired cumbersome wiring. This form of gold is largely used in small gold-printed circuit boards and pinhead-sized silicon chips. Such gold aided circuitry is found in all types of solid state electronics, such as: adding machines, computers, communication devices and television sets.

Because of its excellent reflective qualities, thin gold foil covered the Apollo spacecraft to protect it from solar heat. Gold coatings on the astronauts' faceplates shielded them from harmful rays during their explorations of the moon. Much gold also is used in the space shuttle system.

This reflective value is why the windows in some large office buildings all over the world are coated with a thin, see-through film of gold. Without hindering visibility, the gold deflects the sun's heat and cuts down on the amount of air conditioning needed.

Gold and Health:

For generations, large amounts of gold have been used in dentistry. Being a stable metal that doesn't tarnish and is little affected by acids or temperature changes, gold is particularly suitable for dental crowns, inlays, fillings, and bridgework. Because the price of gold is high, the use of gold in dentistry is becoming excessively expensive. And although much gold still is being worked with, many patients settle for less permanent alloys such as silver or other metal mixtures.

Gold has been found to have medicinal value. For almost 500 years, injections of soluble gold salts have proven beneficial in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. And injections of solutions containing small amounts of radioactive gold are used for treating certain types of cancer. Being chemically inert and, therefore, not affected by body fluids, gold often is helpful in eye surgery involving the transplantation of optical parts. Research is constantly under way for new ways that gold can serve medicine.

Other Uses:

A very malleable metal in its pure form, gold can be pounded into a leaf so thin that about 250,000 would make a stack only an inch high. Either in the form of gold leaf, or stirred into an oily paint-like mixture, gold is used for all sorts of labeling. Signs on office doors and store windows are crafted of gold leaf. Gold leaf lettering and designs are stamped onto high-quality books. Thin gold paints are used in millions of perfume bottles to add an aura of luxury. Some of the finest cloth materials are interwoven with gold thread.

Most of the gold that is not held as some form of investment or used by industry, dentistry, or medicine appears in jewelry or in other forms of a goldsmith's art. This is why, throughout the world, gold is considered the most "precious metal".