The atomic number of gold is 79, which means there are 79 protons in the nucleus of every atom of gold.
The 40,000 miners who joined the California Gold Rush in 1849 were called “49ers”. Only a very few ever got rich.
One ounce of gold can be stretched to a length of 50 miles; the resulting wire would be just five microns wide.
7.2 Million, the number of times that all of the existing gold in the world, turned into 5 micron wire, could wrap around the planet.
One ounce of pure gold could be hammered into a single sheet nine meters square.
171,300 is the total number of tonnes of gold mined since the beginning of civilization.
100 million people worldwide depend on gold mining for their livelihood.
400, the number of troy ounces in a “London Good Delivery Bar”.
Julius Caesar gave two hundred gold coins to each of his soldiers from the spoils of war in defeating Gaul.
The temperature of the human body is 37 degrees centigrade. Because of gold’s unique conductivity, gold jewellery rapidly matches your body’s heat, becoming part of you.
394, the % increase in the price of gold from Dec 2000 to October 2010.
750, the number of parts per thousand of pure gold in 18 carat gold.
In 95 BC, Chinese Emperor Hsiao Wu I minted gold commemorative piece to celebrate the sighting of a unicorn.
Howard Carter made his famous “tiny breach of the top left hand corner of the doorway” to reveal the first glimpse of Tutankhamun’s tomb on 26 November 1922.
Even at only 10 parts of gold per quadrillion, the world’s oceans are estimated to hold up to 15,000 tonnes of gold.
The largest ever true gold nugget weighted 2316 troy ounces when found at Moliagul in Australia in 1869. It was called the “Welcome Stranger”.
In November 2010, the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) fund, a World Gold Council sponsored exchange traded fund, held over $55 billion assets under management.
35, the number of times gold has reached a new high in 2010.
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