Maybe you know very well the price of gold going up and down daily, but there are some interesting stories about this particular type of metal you may not know.
Discover the interesting things about gold that amaze you
The gold market used to be 'peaceful'.
In the past 10 years, the world gold price has fluctuated constantly and increased rapidly. In 2000, the price of 1 ounce of gold (equivalent to 28.35g) was 279 USD, then by mid-2010 reached 1.300 usd mark. However, in the past, the value of this powerful metal was very stable for a long time without major fluctuations. For example, the period from 1833 - 1918, the price of 1 ounce of gold never increased more than 6 cents compared to the original price of 18.93 usd / ounce; and during 1933 - 1967 the price of 1 ounce of gold increased by only 26 cents, despite a series of inflation and economic recession crises.
Metal is highly flexible
Gold is so soft and easy to stretch that it can pull a string up to 80km from 1 ounce of gold, or if it is laminated, it can cover an area of more than 30m2.
It's soft but very heavy
Although it is a soft metal, it is extremely dense and heavy; 1 cubic meter (equivalent to 0.3048 cubic meters) of gold weighing up to half a ton.
Hidden in the ground
Most of the gold found today is not in the gold mines dug deep in the ground, but they are collected from sifting from a huge amount of soil washed away from the mountains. For example, in South Africa, to supply about 500 tons of gold to the world each year, one has to treat up to 70 million tons of land - a mass equivalent to the volume of the Cheops pyramid .
Most of the world's gold is used as jewelry
According to the World Gold Committee, about 70% of the world's gold production is used to make jewelry . Only 13% is used for coinage, or stored in central banks of countries, or circulated in the market through trading activities. The rest is used for many other purposes such as in the industry, and in the field of dentistry.
India is the most consuming country, accounting for about a quarter of the world's gold supply. According to an article in Diamond World, this South Asian country imports about 800 tons of gold each year, and about 600 tons of these are used for jewelry.
The unit of measurement is the name of a fruit
Cara (carat) - a unit used to measure the purity of gold, was originally a unit used to measure weight. Carat is the name of a fruit of the legume family; one bean weighs about 1/5 grams.
Used to produce electronic components
Not only jewelers and new bankers appreciate the value of gold, but electronic component manufacturers also value this particular metal because of its high thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity; so it is an ideal material for making wires and electrical switches. It is also a durable material and can withstand natural corrosion, and is more flexible and easy to laminated, so gold alloys can be extremely thin and not punctured.
Can depress a country
During the period of 1492 - 1600, a huge amount of gold and silver were captured by the Spanish from America and brought back to their home countries, increasing the gold supply of the whole Europe at that time. However, instead of flourishing this empire, these precious metals have gradually weakened it because Spaniards have used the gold to import consumer goods instead of investing in production facilities. Domestic exports to increase profits. This pushed the market price up, made gold devalued, the empire was increasingly suffering from huge foreign debts and losing its power.
Colorful
Pure gold is bright yellow, but in the form of alloy when combined with other metals such as silver, copper, nickel, platinum, palladium, or iron, it can have many different colors, from silver white to green, or red orange.