Why do we buy gold? Why do we seek out the best place to sell gold? What is the obsession with gold? The truth is our human fascination with gold is nothing new. Throughout history gold has been a significant part of our human existence. Gold buyers have been highly prized since ancient times, so to help you understand a bit more about this beautiful yellow substance, here is a brief history of gold.
The First Evidence of Gold
Although it is likely humans had gold before 40,000 BC, but archeologists have dated the earliest discovery of gold to that time period. Evidence suggest that gold was not merely mined for its overall beauty, but the ease of the mining process. In today’s world, finding and mining gold is a difficult task, it was actually easier back then as it was more plentiful in natural mines across the globe. Gold is also among the least reactive metals in the periodic table, so those mining it were not overly concerned with the process of removing the precious metal.
How Does Gold Form?
Everything has to have a true origin story and for gold, it all comes down to water and pressure. Turns out, earthquakes and the movement of tectonic plates are what causes gold to form. When an earthquake happens, pressures are drastically altered inside liquid filled rocks. As the pressure decreases drastically when water is leaked out of the rock, gold forms in small deposits.
Do not think, however, that you will find instant gold after every earthquake. It takes centuries to build up enough gold deposits to make them large enough to mine. If you look at where gold is found, and it is found across the world, most deposits are found close to tectonic plate movement areas.
When Was Gold First Coined
It was not until 600 BC that gold first became a part of general currency. Both gold and silver coins were coined by Croesus, the Lydian king. This is the first official account of gold in currency, but it didn’t stop there. Soon many cultures began using gold as currency due to its rarity and value.
When Did the Gold Rush Begin in America?
Although we may think of the California Gold Rush as the very first gold rush in America, it actually was not. The year was 1799 in Cabarrus County North Carolina when a young boy discovered a 17 pound chunk of gold. Given what we have just learned about the formation of gold, that is a lot of pressure in that one area. 1848 was when the California Gold Rush actually began. This rush was followed by the Australian Rush in the 1850s and the Klondike Rush that began in 1896.
How is Gold Used Today?
Gold has never vanished from modern use. It remains a form of currency throughout the globe, but we also have gold in our everyday products. The phones and computers that are utilized today actually have gold in them. Gold is a highly conductive metal, so that is primarily what makes your smartphone’s processors so fast. In 2015, Apple harvested 2,200 pounds of gold from discarded iPhones alone. That is a lot of gold!
