Cool Gold/
Silver Facts
Gold is said to be so rare that the world pours more steel in an hour than it has poured gold since time began.
• The word ‘silver’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘seolfor’.
• Silver objects have been found dating as far back as 4000 BC. Historians believe it was first discovered around a thousand years before that.
• Ancient civilizations learned how to separate silver from lead around 3000BC.
• In ancient Egypt, silver was valued much more highly than gold.
• Silver gets a mention in the Bible.
• Silver was one of the first five elements discovered, along with gold, copper, lead and iron and has been mined for over 6000 years.
• Silver jewelry was often associated with special powers by ancient civilizations; they believed it brought healing powers, good fortune, and warded off evil spirits.
• There was a consecutive shortage of silver production between 2007 and 1990.
• In the middle ages, a pound of currency was literally a pound of silver in weight.
• The Phoenicians stored water, wine and vinegar in silver bottles to avoid bacteria contaminating the liquids.
• Alchemists used to refer to silver by the name ‘lunar’, because it was associated with the moon, sea and various lunar goddesses.
• The Greek goddess Artemis rode a silver chariot through the sky shooting silver moonbeams to earth with a silver bow.
• Silver is the most reflective element, reflecting 95% of the visible light spectrum. Unless you use it in ultraviolet light, which makes it about as reflective as a stone. It is most effective immediately after placement.
• Nuggets of pure silver can be found in nature; it can be found in copper, lead and zinc ores as well as argentite, horn silver, gold and copper-nickel.
• Silver iodide has been used to make clouds produce rain in an attempt to control hurricanes.
• Silver is stable in oxygen and water, but tarnishes when exposed to ozone, hydrogen sulfide or air containing sulfur due to a reaction with sulfur compounds which cause a black sulfide layer.
• Along with gold, silver is the most ductile (malleable) metal. An ounce of silver can be made into a wire 8,000 feet long.
• When silver is being processed, sometimes a powerful explosive called silver fulminate can form.
• The crystal structure of silver is cubic.
• Most of the world’s silver is now found in Mexico and Peru. Other countries with large quantities of silver include the US, Canada, Russia and Australia. Most of it is found as a by-product of copper, lead and zinc mining.
• In the early 1900s there were reports of native silver ‘as big as stove lids and cannon balls’ being found in northern Ontario, Canada.
• In India food was sometimes decorated with a thin layer of silver, known as ‘varak’.
• Argentina got its name from the Spanish adjective meaning ‘silvery’, because when Spanish conquerors landed there the natives presented them with silver objects.
• Silver occurs as a natural alloy with gold, known as electrum.
• Silver is the best electric conductor of the elements; all other elements are measured against it. It is the only element that scores 100% conductivity, with the next closest element being copper at 97%.
• Silver is also the best thermal conductor of any metal but has the lowest contact resistance.
• The atomic number of silver is 47, and the atomic weight is 107.8682.
• Silver’s melting point is 961.78C and it’s boiling point is 2162C.
• Silver is used as a food additive or colouring, and has the E number E174.
• Silver has 35 isotopes whose half-lives are known, with mass numbers 94 to 128.
• Silver is classified as a transition metal with density of 10.5g/cm3.
• There is no word in the English language that rhymes with silver. Seriously, try it!
• On the periodic table the chemical symbol for silver is Ag, which comes from the latin word for silver, ‘argentum’. This in turn comes from the sanksrit word ‘argunas’, which means ‘shining’.
• The words for ‘silver’ and ‘money’ are the same in fourteen languages.
• The Anglo-Saxon word ‘seolfor’ is derived from the Germanic ‘silabar’.
• Silver has been commonly known as ‘the poor man’s gold’ throughout history.
• ‘Sterling’ refers to the silver pennies introduced by the Normans, which were decorated with stars; their word sterre became starling, which then became sterling.
• Until 1965 coins minted in the United States contained 90% silver. Between 1965 and 1969 it dropped to 40%. Nowadays silver consumption has outpaced output so less precious metals are used.
• A bag with $1000 in coins dating from before 1965 would contain around 715 pounds of silver.
• Silver is currently worth less than gold, but its value changes regularly according to supply and demand.
• Silver has been used as money since around 700BC.
• In 2003 the UK minted 500,000 ounces of silver into coins and medals.
• King Henry II coined the first silver currency in England in 1158.
• The Lydians were the first to use silver as money in the 7th century BC, and was then quickly adopted by the Greeks.
• Silver was at its peak value in the late 15th century.
• Silver is not toxic to humans! In fact, it actually kills some bacteria; but that doesn’t mean you should try eating any.
• Silver compounds can be absorbed into the circulatory system and reduced silver can be deposited into various bodily tissues.
• Argyria is a skin condition that occurs as a result of silver absorption into body tissue, and is characterised by grey skin pigmentation and mucous.
• Bacteria cannot develop a resistance to silver as they can with anitbiotics.
• Silver compounds were used to prevent infection spreading in war zones during World War 1.
• Silver is sometimes used – usually in alternative medicine – to treat colds and flu viruses as well as sinus and lung infections.
• Recently silver has been added into paper used by medical professionals because of its antibiotic qualities.
• Silver was once used by dentists for cavity fillings.
• The most common form of silver is sterling silver. This is actually only 92.5% pure silver, with the other 7.5% made up of other precious metals including copper.
• Britannia silver is an alloy of 95.8% silver and 4.2% copper, also used for jewelry and silverware.
• Mexican silver is 95% silver and 5% copper.
• Alpaca silver is not actually silver at all, but an alloy of non-precious metals with properties similar to stainless steel.
• Other metals are added to silver for the purposes of jewellery making so that the silver is more durable and lasts longer.
• Fine silver is at least 99.9% pure and commercially available, but too soft for general use.
• Sterling silver has been in existence since the 13th century and originated in England.
• A single grain of silver can be pressed into a sheet 150 times thinner than the average sheet of paper.
• Silver bearings are used in jet engines to give a higher degree of safety.
• Silver is harder than gold, but softer than copper.
• Silver has had more patents issued with its use than all other metals combined.
• Most industrially used silver ends up in landfills after use and is permanently lost as a result.
• Around 20 billion ounces of silver is in use in the world today as coins, jewelry, religious and artistic objects.
• If you ever come across a werewolf, silver is supposedly the only way to defeat it.
• Lance Armstrong used silver-embedded fabrics during the Tour de France to control inflammation and promote healing.
• The expression ‘born with a silver spoon in their mouth’ actually refers to health rather than wealth, as children fed with silver spoons were believed to be healthier.
• 9000 metric tons of silver is used by the photographic industry each year; that’s almost half of the total silver mined annually.
• The lines on the rear window of a car that defrost ice are made from silver.
• Silver is used not only in jewelry, art, coins and utensils, but also dentistry, electronics, photography, mirrors, soldering and brazing alloys, and in printed circuits.
• Taking a photograph requires using a silver nitrate compound to make the celluloid film sensitive to light. Around 30% of industrial silver consumption in the US is used for this.
• Silver is used in solar panels, electrical circuits and contacts, batteries for medical devices like pacemakers and hearing aids, and for space travel.
• In the past mirrors were backed with silver because it was highly reflective. Nowadays aluminium is used instead as it is cheaper and doesn’t tarnish over time like silver does.
• Gold is one of the world's most precious metals.
• Gold is so soft it is seldom used in its pure form.
• Gold has been located on 90% of the earth’s surface, in deserts, mountains, in tropical climates, and in the Arctic.
• Pure gold flakes or dust are used as a decorative additive to culinary creations.
• Gold is one of the most recycled materials in the world.
• The most popular gold bullion coin is the U.S. Gold Eagle.
• The coffin of Egypt’s King Tutankhamen was created with approximately 2242 pounds of solid gold.
• The term ‘mother lode’ comes from the name given to an area of five counties in California where the Gold Rush took place in the 1840s.
• The most common bar of gold, the large ‘London Good Delivery Bars,’ weigh approximately 400 Troy ounces, which is equal to 12.5 kilograms or 27 pounds each.
• Gold can be hammered so thin that sunlight can shine through it.
• Gold can be hammered into sheets so thin that a pile of them an inch high would contain more than 200,000 separate sheets.
• Gold mines produce gold commercially on every continent except Antarctica.
• A one-ounce gold nugget is more rare to find than a five-carat diamond.
• Even though gold is rare, it is far easier to find than winning a major state lottery.
• Because of its rarity, a gold nugget can be worth three to four times the value of the gold it contains.
• Gold is so heavy that one cubic foot of it weighs half a ton.
• Gold is six to seven times heavier than other materials that equal its size.
• Click here to add text.The largest gold nugget found in the U.S. weighed 195 pounds; it came from California.
• Jewelry that is marked 10K is made of 10 parts gold, and 14 parts other metals.
• The hardness of pure gold (on moh's scale) is 2-1/2 to 3; the melting point is 2,063 degrees Fahrenheit, specific gravity is 19.32, and tensile strength is 19,000psi.
• Gold can be transmitted from platinum by nuclear reaction. But, because of the rarity of platinum, it is far too costly.• The United States government banned private ownership of gold, which lasted 41 years; then lifted it on December 31, 1974.
• Gold is one of the world's most precious metals.
• The word "gold" comes from the Old English word "geolu," meaning yellow.
• There is more steel created per hour than there has been gold dug up throughout history.
• Around 161,000 tons of gold have been mined by humans.
• Gold can be found beneath the earth on all seven continents.
• It is believed that around 80% of earth's gold is still buried underground.
• There is an estimated total of 10 billion tons of gold in the world's oceans. That is 25 tons of gold for every cubic mile of seawater.
• The world’s first gold vending machine was unveiled in May 2010. Located in an ultra-luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi, the vending machine itself is covered in 24-carat gold.
• Most western economies' currencies were on the gold standard until 1961.
• Switzerland was the last country whose currency was tied to gold. 40% of a Swiss Franc was backed by gold until Switzerland joined the IMF in 1999.
• The gold held at Fort Knox is accounted for by the United States as an asset valued at $44.22 per ounce.
• As of December 31, 1941 Fort Knox held 649.6 million ounces of gold.
• Today, Fort Knox holds about 147.3 million ounces.
• The size of a standard gold bar is 7" by 3 and 5/8" by 1 and 3/4"
• Alchemists believe they can change ordinary materials, such as lead, into gold.
• A carat was originally a unit of mass based on the carob seed used by ancient merchants.
• The most expensive gold coin in the world is the 1933 Double Eagle, which was sold at Sotheby's in New York in 2002 for $7.59 million.
• Elvis Presley owned three cars manufactured by Stutz Motor Company, in which every part that is normally chrome was converted to gold.
• Former Tyco International CEO Dennis Kozlowski bought a gold-threaded shower curtain worth $6,000.
• A noble metal, gold is prone neither to rust nor tarnish and does not form an oxide film on its surface when coming into contact with ai
• There are 92 naturally occurring elements found in the earth's crust. Gold ranks 58th in rarity.
• The chemical symbol for gold is Au, which is derived from the Latin word "aurum," which means "shining dawn."
• Absolutely pure gold is so soft that it can be molded with the hands.
• The melting point of gold is 2,063 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Gold is a great conductor of electricity.
• Gold is the most malleable and ductile pure metal known to man.
• An ounce of gold can be beaten into a sheet covering 100 square feet.
• In 1869, two Australians unearthed the world's largest nugget of gold, the "Welcome Stranger," which measured 10 by 25 inches before it was melted down.
• The largest nugget still in existence is the "Hand of Faith," found in 1980 in Australia. It is currently on display at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas.
• A gold nugget found in the earth can be three to four times as valuable as the gold it contains because of its rareness.
• The heaviest modern gold bullion coin is Austria's Philharmonic. In 2004, the coin, which has a weight of 1,000 ounces (31.1 kilograms or 69 troy pounds or 828 troy ounces) and a diameter of 15 inches, was dubbed the world’s largest gold coin by Guinness World Records.
• In 2007, Canada made a 100 kilogram (3,217 troy ounce), 0.99999 gold coin with a face value of $1,000,000.
• Pure gold does not cause skin irritations.
• Some sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis receive injections of liquid gold to relieve pain.
• Olympic gold medals were pure gold until 1912.
• An ounce of gold can be drawn into a wire 60 miles long.
• Two thirds of the world's gold comes from South Africa.
• India is the world's largest consumer of gold today.
• South Asian jewelry is generally more pure than western jewelry, comprised of 22 carat gold rather than 14 carat.
• Gold is the state mineral of California and Alaska.
• 90% of the world's gold mining has been done since the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in California in 1848.
• During the California gold rush, some speculators paid more for an ounce of water than they received for an ounce of gold.
• South Dakota and Nevada produce more gold than any other states.
• Scientists believe that gold can be found on Mars, Mercury, and Venus.
• The visors of astronauts' helmets are coated in a very thin, transparent layer of gold (.000002 inches) that reduces glare and heat from sunlight.
• The Aztec word for gold, "teocuitatl," was translated by Europeans as meaning "excrement of the gods."
• According to the legend of El Dorado (the gilded one), an Andean chief who was covered in gold dust would make offerings of gold into a mountain lake.
• Evidence suggests that around 5,000 B.C., gold and copper became the first metals to be discovered by man.
• King Croesus of Lydia created the first pure gold coins in 540 B.C.
• When Franklin Roosevelt raised the price of gold from $20.67 to $35 in 1934, the dollar immediately lost 40% of its value.
• Henry VIII, Diocletian and Nero were infamous gold debasers, mixing other metals into gold coins and decreasing their value.
• The average person has about 0.2 milligrams of gold in their body at any given time, found mostly in the blood.
• The last country to be on a gold standard (backing up its currency with gold) was Switzerland. The country backed up 40% of its money supply with gold until 1999.
• Gold is an effective reflector of electromagnetic radiation such as infrared, visible light, and radio waves. It is used as protective coating on satellites.
• India is the second largest consumer of gold in the world. A large portion of the gold Indians buy is used for the 10,000 traditional Indian weddings held every year.
• Gold arrived on our planet through ancient meteor showers.
• In every one ton of smartphones, there exists 10 oz of Gold.
• The California Gold Rush (1848-1855) was the largest mass migration in American History.
Weight of a cubic foot of:
Water = 62 lbs. Iron = 491 lbs. Copper = 559 lbs. Silver = 665 lbs. Gold = 1206 lbs
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