Properties of Gold

• Gold is one of few metals that is yellow; it has no oxide on its surface. It will never rust or become tarnished. Gold is classified as a transitional metal and has the chemical symbol Au, derived from its Latin name, aurum. Its melting point is 1,948 degrees Fahrenheit and its boiling point is 5,085 degrees.
  
  

Gold as a Currency

• Many nations and peoples have used gold as currency for as long as people have exchanged goods and traded without bartering. Gold coins are used in many parts of the world and it might be making a comeback in the United States. For example, gold coins are now legal tender in Utah. The fractional reserve system for banking, in which banks keep only a certain percentage of deposits in cash or liquid assets, originated in medieval Europe. Goldsmiths kept the gold of merchants and issued receipts and loans in the form of paper, which became a form of currency.
  
  

Gold as a Reserve

• Until 1936, currencies of the world were exchanged under the system known as the Gold Standard. This meant that currencies were what are known as commodity money -- they were backed by gold reserves. Some notes around the world, such as British notes, carry a promise to pay the bearer on demand the note's value in gold. Gold is still used as a reserve currency when markets and investors are concerned about economic conditions. It is counter-cyclical; the price of gold generally rises when other prices are falling on world markets.
  
  

Gold as a Source of Power and Greed

• The extent of the importance of gold throughout human history is impossible to exaggerate. Many wars were fought over it, many people died in pursuit of it and many people loved and still love wearing it. Pirates sought gold from Spanish ships bringing bullion back to Spain that had been plundered from indigenous peoples. The leaders of Ancient Egypt and other civilizations adorned themselves and their burial sites in gold as a sign of their power and status.