Gold: The History of Gold (Part I)

VISUAL CAPITALIST GOLD A FOUR PART SERIES 2. 3. HISTORY OF GOLD MINING & SUPPLY USES & DEMAND AS AN INVESTMENT WARS HAVE LOVE HAS GOLD HAS CHANGED THE BEEN FOUGHT BEEN EXPRESSED LANDSCAPE OF CIVILIZATIONS OVER GOLD. WITH GOLD. AND THE WORLD. BUT WHAT MAKES GOLD GREAT? GOLD IS INCREDIBLY RARE. ALL GOLD MINED SINCE THE DAWN OF CIVILIZATION WOULD FIT IN A 20m wwwww T•[•[•]•[•[•[•] 20m 20m CUBE EVERY RING CROWN COIN AND BAR ON EARTH WOULD FIT INTO THIS CUBE. (171,300 TONNES) (ARC DE TRIOMPHE) GOLD IS MALLEABLE AND DUCTILE. A 1-OUNCE PIECE OF GOLD CAN BE HAMMERED INTO A SHEET 9M X 9M WIDE 4.5 OZ OF GOLD CAN BE STRETCHED INTO A 5 MICRON WIRE THAT WOULD REACH THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION MORE GOLD PROPERTIES PURE GOLD IS SO SOFT THAT YOU CAN CREATE INDENTS ON PURE GOLD BY BITING IT WITH YOUR TEETH IT READILY CREATES ALLOYS WITH OTHER METALS IT'S A GOOD CONDUCTOR OF HEAT AND ELECTRICITY 1 OZ COULD BE STRETCHED TO FORM A WIRE 9X THE HEIGHT OF MOUNT EVEREST IT IS VERY DENSE IT IS HIGHLY LUSTROUS 5 MICRONS IN DIAMETER IT DOES NOT REACT WITH AIR, MOISTURE, OR MOST CORROSIVE AGENTS CIVILIZATIONS AND WEALTH GOLD IS THE FIRST METAL THAT WAS WIDELY KNOWN TO MANKIND. THIS IS BECAUSE UNLIKE OTHER METALS, IT CAN OCCUR NATURALLY IN PURE AND WORKABLE STATES LIKE FLAKES OR NUGGETS. THE EGYPTIANS 1200 BC 1223 BC 2600 BC 3600 BC KING TUT'S GOLDEN FUNERAL MASK IS CREATED THEY INVENT THE LOST-WAX TECHNIQUE STILL USED TODAY IN JEWELRY MAKING HIEROGLYPHICS DESCRIBE GOLD IN EGYPT EGYPTIANS WERE THE FIRST TO SMELT GOLD THEY LEARN TO ALLOY GOLD WITH OTHER METALS FOR HARDNESS AND COLOUR VARIATION THE THE CHINESE LYDIANS THE ANCIENT CHINESE BEGIN CIRCULATING THE YING YUAN, A SQUARE GOLD COIN 564 BC IN PRESENT DAY TURKEY, LYDIANS MINT THE FIRST EVER COINS FOR TRADE 564 BC MADE FROM ELECTRUM A NATURAL ALLOY OF GOLD AND SILVER THE GREEKS 433 BC Пu ALEXANDER THE GREAT SACKS THE PERSIAN EMPIRE AND LOOTS THEIR LEGENDARY GOLD TREASURY GREEKS BEGIN TO PRACTICE ALCHEMY THE QUEST OF TURNING BASE METALS INTO VALUABLE GOLD THE ROMANS 58 BC JULIUS CAESAR BRINGS BACK ENOUGH GOLD FROM A VICTORIOUS CAMPAIGN IN GAUL TO GIVE 200 COINS TO EACH OF HIS SOLDIERS AND REPAY ALL' OF ROME'S DEBTS. THE ROMANS ARE THE FIRST TO USE GOLD AS A WIDESPREAD CURRENCY SYSTEM THE ROMANS INVENT NEW WAYS TO EXTRACT GOLD ON A LARGE SCALE THROUGH HYDRAULIC MINING THE SPANISH KING FERDINAND OF SPAIN SAID TO EXPLORERS: GET GOLD, HUMANELY IF YOU CAN, BUT ALL HAZARDS, 000 GET GOLD. 99 14TH CENTURY WITHIN YEARS, THE INCA AND AZTEC CIVILIZATIONS WOULD FALL TO SPANISH CONQUISTADORS IN ADDITION TO ITS RARITY, GOLD'S PROPERTIES MADE IT THE OBVIOUS CHOICE FOR CURRENCY. GOLD IS EASY TO PRESS INTO COINS AND BULLION, AND IT IS EASY TO IDENTIFY BECAUSE OF ITS DENSITY AND COLOUR. 000000 IT ALSO DOES NOT TARNISH OR RUST MAKING IT LONG-LASTING. GOLD GAVE RISE TO THE CONCEPT OF CURRENCY ITSELF: PORTABLE, PRIVATE & PERMANENT $45 3. IN FACT, GOLD FITS THE THREE GENERALLY ACCEPTED CONDITIONS TO BE USED AS MONEY: MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE UNIT OF ACCOUNT STORE OF VALUE THE GOLD STANDARD OVER TIME, COUNTRIES ADOPTED THE GOLD STANDARD AS A MONETARY SYSTEM, WHERE CURRENCY WOULD BE FIXED TO A WEIGHT OF GOLD. GREAT BRITAIN WAS THE FIRST TO DO THIS, AND ITS ECONOMIC POWER PUT PRESSURE ON OTHER COUNTRIES TO FOLLOW SUIT. IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY, ALL MAJOR COUNTRIES OTHER THAN CHINA USED THE GOLD STANDARD. VALUE OF GOLD RELATIVE TO SILVER 16TH CENTURY 19TH CENTURY PART OF THIS WAS DUE TO SILVER BECOMING INCREASINGLY ABUNDANT AND LOSING ITS VALUE. 15.5X 50X MODERN HISTORY: 19TH TO 21ST CENTURY FAMOUS GOLD RUSHES THE PROSPECTS OF HITTING GOLD ENTICED WORKERS ACROSS THE WORLD TO MIGRATE TO NEW FRONTIERS WHERE GOLD WAS DISCOVERED. PLACER GOLD OCCURRING IN NUGGETS AND FLAKES ALLOWED PROSPECTORS TO FIND GOLD WITH SIMPLE AND INEXPENSIVE TOOLS LIKE GOLD PANS. $430,000 TODAY'S VALUE NORTH CAROLINA - 1799 AN EARLY AMERICAN GOLD RUSH OCCURRED AFTER A 12 YEAR OLD BOY DISCOVERED A 17 POUND GOLD NUGGET IN CABARRUS COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. CALIFORNIA - 1848 THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD CAUSED THE POPULATION OF SAN FRANCISCO TO SWELL ROM 1,000 To 25,000 HUNDREDS OF SHIPS USED TO DELIVER PROSPECTORS WERE ABANDONED IN THE CITY'S HARBOUR. SAILORS WERE UNWILLING TO LEAVE THE BOOMTOWN TO SAIL THEM BACK! IN 2 YEARS. KLONDIKE - 1896 GOLD DISCOVERED IN THE KLONDIKE RIVER AREA IN THE YUKON, BC, STARTED A STAMPEDE OF 100,000 PEOPLE. FOR THE 30-40% OF PEOPLE WHO COMPLETED THE JOURNEY, IT WOULD TAKE FIVE YEARS OF MINING TO RECOUP THE MONEY SPENT GETTING THERE. GOLD IN THE SPACE AGE HUMANITY'S FIRST TRIPS TO SPACE WERE HEAVILY DEPENDENT ON THE BRIGHT METAL, AS ITS LUSTROUS SURFACE REFLECTED THE SUN'S DANGEROUS RADIATION THAT WOULD OTHERWISE HARM ASTRONAUTS AND EQUIPMENT. SPACE SHUTTLES CONTAIN APPROX. 40 KGS OF GOLD. TODAY'S RESERVES AN ESTIMATED 171,300 TONNES 31,000 TONNES - GOVERNMENTS, CENTRAL BANKS AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS NOTABLE GOLD DEPOSITORIES US BULLION DEPOSITORY FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY FEDERAL RESERVE BANK MANHATTAN, NEW YORK 4581 6718 TONNES TONNES PROTECTED BY ATOMIC BOMB PROOF VAULTS, A 22-TON FRONT DOOR, 300 TANKS AND 30,000 SOLDIERS. THE CYLINDRICAL VAULT RESTS 80 FEET BELOW STREET LEVEL ON MANHATTAN'S BEDROCK-ONE OF THE FEW FOUNDATIONS CONSIDERED ADEQUATE TO SUPPORT THE WEIGHT OF THE VAULT, ITS DOOR, AND THE GOLD INSIDE CONCLUSION GOLD IS AN EXTREMELY UNIQUE, USEFUL AND VERSATILE METAL. IT HAS PROVED IRREPLACEABLE THROUGHOUT THE AGES IN APPLICATIONS AS VARIED AS HUMAN HISTORY ITSELF. ITS STORY IS FAR FROM OVER... NEXT: PART 2 - MINING & SUPPLY Visual Capitalist is committed to providing independent and unbiased content for educational purposes. Visual Capitalist received no direct funding from third-party companies or organizations to produce this infographic. VISUAL CAPITALIST Educating a new generation of investors on resource investing and managment VISUAL CAPITALIST www.visualcapitalist.com Top 5 Sources: World Gold Council: http://www.gold.org/ US Funds Gold Timeline: http://www.usfunds.com/interactive/gold-through-the-ages/ Gold Standard (Wikipedia): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard Money (Wikipedia): http://en.vikipedia.org/wiki/Money History of Gold (National Mining Association): http://www.nma.org/pdf/gold/gold_history.pdf For a complete list of sources, please visit: visualcapitalist.com/sources 0000000O