Gold, the most well-known precious metal, has been mined since 25BC and at many places across the globe, from America to Wales. This popularity over a timespan of two thousand years suggests that there is a quality to gold that is unique and out of the ordinary; and indeed there is. Gold’s selling point is that is an incredibly versatile material that can be utilised for many purposes from catering to investment, thus its longevity and popularity.
The first thing many people would associate with gold is, of course, jewellery. The Egyptians first crafted jewellery out of gold and coloured glass beads and the usage of gold as a setting for jewels has continued ever since, with wedding rings in many countries traditionally being gold. Although gold is used for this purpose due to its malleable nature, it is often alloyed with other metals, such as copper or palladium, to create a more hard-wearing piece that will last longer. Many different colours of gold, such as blue, white and pink gold, can be created from alloying other metals with gold, and these also have found popularity within the jewellery market.
Gold has also been historically significant with regards to currency and investment. A ‘gold standard’ has been used several times across the world, a system where a single monetary unit is assigned the worth of a fixed weight of gold. Gold is also seen as a safe investment due to the belief that gold is a hedge for inflation and therefore avoids the effect on the economy when socio-political factors change the market. Because of this, it is seen as a safe haven for investors and continues to maintain popularity as a sensible choice of asset.
There are further, very varied, uses for gold. It is often used within electronics manufacture in devices such as mobile phones and games consoles. Gold has been used in a range of products from USB cables to aircraft engines, due to its high level of conductivity and resistance to corrosion or oxidisation. There are also more specialised uses, such as coasting aircraft windscreens with extremely thin layers of gold through which electricity can pass and warm the glass, preventing it icing over. Medicine and dentistry have also found a number of different uses for gold. Isotopes of the metal can be used to treat cancer and gold injected into the body can alleviate the symptoms of arthritis and other painful illnesses.
Gold can be used in countless, very different, ways, although of course some are much more well-known and popular than others, such as jewellery. It is a testament to gold’s adaptable nature, however, that is has become such an important part of many different industries.
Buy gold bullion online
categories: gold, investment, jewellery, jewelry, gifts, gold history, history, buy gold, finance, money, currency, spending, personal finance