The Most Interesting Facts about Gold

There are several interesting facts about gold that might sound really surprising.

• Gold in Food and Human Body

Since the human body has about 140 ppb of gold, for an average 70 kg person it will be about 10 mg of gold. Although gold is a heavy and dense metal, it is generally considered non-toxic. This way, gold metal flakes may be eaten in foods or drinks, though most foods contain only a few nanograms of gold per gram.

• Gold Purity 

K, k, KT, Kt, kt, CT, ct are the same meaning abbreviations. They represent the word Karat, which can also be spelled Carat in many places outside of the USA. Karat is the measurement that is usually used to describe the purity of the gold. Pure gold is 24 karats. Though, most gold is made up of a mixture of gold with other metals. There can be 10, 12, 14, 18, 22, or 24 karats.

• Gold is a Noble Metal

Since gold is a noble metal, it is unreactive and resists degradation by moisture, air, or acidic conditions. While acids can dissolve most metals, only a unique mixture of acids called aqua regia can dissolve gold.

• World’s Gold Largest Object  

The world’s largest pure gold object is the Golden Buddha in Bangkok’s temple of Wat Traimit. It is a seated, cross-legged Buddha figure known as Phra Phuttha Maha Suwana Patimakon. It weighs 5.5 tonnes (5,500 kilograms). 

• The First Gold Coins 

The earliest coins mostly refer to Iron Age Anatolia of the late 7th century BC to Lydia, Western Turkey, created from electrum (a natural mix of gold and silver, 54% gold to 44% silver) in the local rivers.

• Olympic “Gold” Medals

One of the most interesting facts about gold refers to the sport. Olympic gold medals were pure gold until 1912. Now Olympic Gold Medals only contain 1.34% of gold.

• Gold and Phobias 

Aurophobia is the fear of gold. Some people may dislike gold because of its appearance, thinking that it represents power or death. The origin of the word Auro (meaning gold) is Latin, and Phobia (meaning fear) is Greek.

• Gold and Phosphorus 

Phosphorus discovery dates back to 1669, when the German alchemist Hennig Brand thought that human urine had the same color as gold and believed that he could distill gold from it. After stockpiling 1,500 gallons of urine and boiling it, he discovered phosphorus.

• Gold Softness

Pure gold is fragile and can be easily bent. So, it is a wrong choice for jewellery, which requires more durability. Most gold jewellery is made of a gold mixture with various other metals, called an alloy. The other metals determine the color of the gold in the alloy.

• The richest gold owner

This title can legally belong to 14th Century West African ruler Mansa Musa. His fortune was so tremendous that people struggled to describe it. One of Musa’s titles was “Lord of the Mines of Wangara,” as Mali was the largest gold producer in the world.