Jerry Burnell
QUESTION: Why is gold as valuable as it is? Why isn't sodium or tin as valuable?
ANSWER: Gold is one of three precious metals, the others being Platinum and to a lesser extent silver. The main reason for their value is that they are rare. You can put all the gold ever found in a cube less than 150 feet. Not very big by today's standards. In a good gold mine, you have to move and refine ten tons of dirt or rock for each ounce of gold recovered. There are not many good gold mines in the world either. The second property of a precious metal is that it has to be impervious to the elements. In other words it cannot rust, corrode, or be degradable by other elements. Gold is so inert that it is sometimes found in nature in the natural metal state in the form of nuggets. This allowed people in ancient times to take the natural nuggets and pound them together to form metal objects. Gold does not oxidize or corrode, so it’s shape will remain a thousand years from now if you do not ware it away.
Other properties making it valuable is malleability. You can literally beat on it and it tends not to crack. In fact gold can be hammered out so thin that light will pass through it. It has been hammered out thinner than tinfoil and applied to objects as "Gold Foil". Gold foil stays a highly reflective beautiful yellow color, lasting forever. There never has been a paint that will last and protect like gold foil. Gold was used to cover idols and temples raising its status even further.
Historically, only the affluent, churches, and governments could afford to own gold. It’s value was based on work. People worked to earn gold (or silver), virtually trading part of their lives for gold and its purchasing power. It quickly became impractical to carry large piles of gold, so governments took most of the gold and gave people promissory notes (money) representing a given weight in gold. Before the early 30’s you could take your money to the bank and get the same amount of dollars in gold coins.
Let’s talk about that beautiful yellow color. Gold just looks good and glorifies human skin colors. A fine craftsperson can form gold into small sculptures that can be worn, admired, and enjoyed. It can be fashioned into small sculptures that hold precious stones - jewelry. Because of its permanence, gold can be repaired and admired for many lifetimes. Thus you have precious jewelry, as opposed to costume jewelry, which is intended to wear with just one "costume" and then be discarded.
Today there are other new uses for gold. Gold transfers electricity with less resistance than any other metal on this earth. Extremely high-end electronics and computer components use gold wiring instead of copper for their circuitry. Gold does not corrode and it is used to plate or make fine electrical contacts. It is very reflective and is used in equipment that needs to not oxidize like laser chambers. Very thin layers cut down on light without changing its properties. Astronauts, pilots and high-end sunglasses are coated with gold to cut down on the intensity of the sun's rays. Extremely fine fabrics have gold threads because gold does not dull with time.
The value of gold will never go down. At a certain level of value, mines will shut down operations because production costs are higher than they can sell it for. Today, there are more uses for gold being found daily. The question is, “will we have enough gold to fulfill the demand in the future?” There has never been enough gold in the past to fulfill everyone’s desire. And there will not be enough gold to fill future demands. Gold is beautiful and it has very valuable rare properties which makes it so valuable.
----------------------------------------------------------
The Lure of Gold
Gold! Gold fever! The Golden State. Good as gold. Golden anniversary. Gold medal. The Golden years. Solid gold Cadillac. Go for the gold . . .
In almost all cultures around the world throughout history, gold has been valued and sought as a precious metal: gold as a mineral, gold as a commodity, gold as a precious object.
It has been a symbol of power, wealth and success. It has provoked greed and lust. It has been hoarded. It has launched expeditions and wars.
Gold is soft, malleable, and easily crafted into beautiful decorative objects. It is resilient and resistant to corrosives. It is valuable in industry and medicine. It is an enduring symbol.
And gold is relatively scarce, making it all the more desirable and valuable. Gold is the stuff of dreams.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sure, it's pretty cool that you can get cash for gold through a website and U.S. Postal Service. But have you ever wondered why gold is so valuable? This article will discuss some of the reasons that gold is highly valued, even after thousands of years.
The main reason that gold is so valuable is because it is rare. It's been said that if you took all the gold in the whole world and lumped it all together, you would only end up with a 150 foot cube. Mining for gold is a very expensive and difficult process. To extract one ounce of gold you have to dig and move about ten tons of dirt or rock. It's a very labor intensive job and can only be done in certain geographic areas.
Another reason gold is considered to be valuable is that it is inert, meaning that it does not interact with other elements. Gold doesn't rust, corrode or degrade. It basically lasts forever, which is something that can't really be said for most other materials.
One property of gold that contributes to it's value is that is is extremely malleable. This means that it can be stretched, pounded and twisted without breaking or cracking. This allows people to shape gold into many different forms such as jewelry or create paper-thin gold foil that can cover objects to make them appear as if they are made from gold. Gold is also an excellent conductor of electricity and is used in computer circuits and many computer and audio cables have "gold plated" contacts.
In early days, people could use gold nuggets or trinkets to directly pay for goods and services. In modern times, governments have large stores of gold that is used to back the value of currency in the form of paper and coins. Each U.S. dollar is actually like and I.O.U. for a tiny little fraction of the U.S. gold reserve. You may be familiar with the story that Fort Knox is where all of the U.S.'s gold is kept. While there is a large store of gold there, it does not represent the entire amount of gold that the U.S. has.
All of these factors contribute to the real reason that gold is so valuable - because everyone agrees that it is. You would be hard pressed to find a person on Earth that wouldn't accept a big chunk of gold as payment (as long as it could be verified that it was indeed gold). Hundreds of years ago people liked gold for it's rarity and natural beauty. Today, those same reasons hold true, but gold is looked at as more of a "universal currency". When the U.S. economy has trouble and the dollar dips down in value, the price of gold usually goes up. It's a safer investment because historically it has always had a high value.
The bottom line is that gold is so valuable because most people agree that it is valuable. The fact that it's rare, hard to obtain, pretty and easy to work with are all contributing factors.
Educate yourself before you sell your gold! Visit Cash For Gold Secrets today to learn all about how the cash for gold process works and learn how to protect yourself from getting ripped off. Knowledge is power!
