HISTORY OF GOLD
Gold is one of the first metals used by man, dating back to the cave dwellers. For centuries, gold has been coveted for its unique blend of rarity, beauty, and near indestructibility. Nations have embraced gold as a store of wealth and a medium of international exchange; individuals have sought to possess gold as insurance against the day-to-day uncertainties of paper money.
The ancient Egyptians became so adept a working gold that they were able to hammer it so thin that it took 367,000 leaves to make a pile one inch high. Vessels made as early as 3500 BC have been found at Ur in Mesopotamia. The quest for gold stimulated European explorations and conquests in the Western Hemisphere, and its discovery has led to many a gold rush. The first gold rush in America took place in Georgia in 1828. The California gold rush of 1849 brought settlers from all over the world to the west coast.
For hundreds of years, man has tried unsuccessfully to make gold by artificial means. This science was known as Alchemy. Modern scientists have succeeded in this quest by extracting gold from seawater, and the atom smasher can make gold from lead. All the gold produced commercially still comes from the earth and has become a very important and very carefully supervised industry for the gold producing countries of the world.
Gold has been valuable for so long primarily because of its scarcity. This metal owes much to its physical properties of beauty, softness, resistance to chemicals and density. Gold has a natural beautiful yellow color and a soft metallic glow. Scientists describe gold as being extremely ductile as it can be drawn as fine as a human hair and malleable because it can be hammered and rolled into thin sheets. No matter how it is twisted, no matter how thin it is rolled or drawn, it still retains its remarkable resistance to rust and tarnishing.
When gold is made into jewelry, it must be combined with other metals called alloys. Gold alloys are measured by karats. A karat is equal to 1/24 part, thus twenty-four karat (24K) gold is pure gold. Eighteen karat gold (18K) is 18 parts pure gold and 6 parts alloy. Fourteen karat gold (14K) is 14 parts pure gold and 10 parts alloy. Alloys used to make fine yellow gold jewelry are generally fine gold, copper, silver, and zinc. White gold jewelry consists of fine gold, silver and nickel.
Glossary
COLORS OF GOLD: Yellow, Green, Red and White are produced by variations in the alloy. Silver and zinc tend to give a green color: copper a reddish color and nickel for a white color.
GOLD FILLED: made by joining a layer (or layers) of gold alloy to a base metal alloy and then rolling or drawing to the thickness required.
ROLLED GOLD PLATE: the same as gold filled, but usually of lower quality
GOLD ELECTROPLATE: made by electrolytically depositing fine gold on base metal.
GOLD SOLDERS: usually 2 to 4 karats less than the gold on which they are used.
A PENNYWEIGHT: the twentieth part of a troy ounce. The name originally applied to the weight of an Anglo-Norman penny.
A TROY OUNCE: about 10% heavier than the common avoirdupois ounce. There are 14.683 ounces troy in an avoirdupois pound.
