ancient gold coins – What Makes Gold So Special?

Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 4:12 pm

What Makes Gold So Special?

Over the centuries, gold has played a unique cultural role in societies across the world. Something about the metal gives it a transcendant symbolic value: from the legendary treasuries of the Aztec and Mayan empires to the Golden Calf of the Book of Exodus, gold is implicated in the most dramatic tales of ancient human history. Even today, gold retains its cultural signficance. For an Olympic athlete, a single gold medal represents the zenith of achievement. The Palme d’Or, or Golden Palm, is a symbol of supreme attainment in the film industry. Only a handful of British monarchs have managed to stick it out for half a century and earn their Golden Jubilee. And clearly there is a reason why credit card companies designate their high-end offerings as "Gold Cards". But what is it about real gold that captures our attention? What gives this yellow metal such value?

Like anything of real value, gold is rare. Only 3 particles per billion in the Earth’s crust are gold. Although the world’s oceans hold vast amounts of gold, it is so dilute that attempts to recover it from the salt water have never been successful. If all the gold ever refined were formed into a ball, it would be less than 25 metres across. However, some gold does exist naturally in a relatively pure state (as opposed to in an ore), enabling humans to gather it in small quantities without the need for chemical extraction. And once harvested, gold is one of the most versatile metals on earth. It has been crafted and shaped ever since the 'caltholithic', or 'copper' age, as early as 4000 BC, making it one of the very first metals to be used by humans. The ancient peoples of Egypt and the Middle East used gold for religious rites, as well as for ornamentation. The first recorded use of gold coins was during the reign of King Croesus of Lydia around 600 BC. Gold is also more malleable and ductile than any other metal. A single gram of gold can be beaten into a sheet one metre square. It is one of the heaviest elements; heavier, even, than lead. Ten teaspoons of gold would weigh as much as seventeen teaspoons of lead.

It has been customary throughout history to test the purity of gold by biting on it. Since pure gold is soft enough to show teeth-marks, and cheaper alloying metals are usually harder, this method does give some indication. More reliable tests, however, involve the use of nitric acid. The content of gold in alloys is mea
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sured in karats (k). Pure gold is 24 karat, with the number of karats decreasing proportionally as other metal is added.

Although too soft for ordinary use in its pure state, gold can be extremely hard and durable when alloyed with other metals. Alloying also has other advantages besides increasing its hardness. The distinctive yellow colour of gold is recognised throughout the world. However, a fascinating spectrum of other colours can be created by combining small quantities of other metals with the gold. Alloyed with copper, it has a rosy colour, with nickel, silver, or palladium it is white, with iron, blue, and with aluminium, a purple hue. Pure silver gives the alloy a greenish tint, and rhodium or ruthenium produce black. Gold in such forms is most commonly used in jewellery. “Colloidal” gold is micro-particles of gold suspended in water, producing an intense red colour. Colloidal gold is used in stained glass, and in certain applications for medical and scientific research.

In former years gold played an important role as a medium of exchange, mostly in the form of valuable coins. Currencies were also backed by gold, but this is no longer the case. Reserves of gold are still held by some nations as gold bullion coins, for example the Australian Gold Nugget, or the British Britannia. The value of these coins is measured by their weight, rather than by their face value, which, when it exists, is always significantly less than its true value. The world's biggest gold coin was minted by the Canadian Royal Mint in Spring 2007. It is half a metre across, 3 cm thick, weighs 100 kg, and is worth nearly 3 million dollars, with a face value of $1,000,000.

These days, most gold is used in jewellery, but it is also widely used by other industries. Dentists use gold alloys in crowns and bridges, and certain types of toners in the photography industry contain gold. Even the food industry uses gold flakes or dust to enhance the appearance of exotic sweets and drinks. Gold can be made into thread for embroidery, and beaten into micro-thin sheets called 'gold leaf'. More durable than any paint, the real gold never fades or loses its lustre. In fact, there are examples of gilding done by the Romans and Ancient Egyptians which still retain their brilliance today, thousands of years on.

Far from being outdated, real gold remains superior to this day, adding a touch of brilliance to many quality products today.

By: Olson

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Bernard Hibbs designs signs for Clover Signs - makers of carved and gilded house signs.

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Ancient Greek pottery is frequently signed, sometimes by the potter or the master of the pottery, but only occasionally by the painter. Hundreds of painters are however, identifiable by their artistic personalities, where their signatures haven't survived they are named for their subject choices, as "the Achilles Painter", by the potter they worked for, such as the late Archaic "Kleophrades Painter", or even by their modern locations, such as the late Archaic "Berlin Painter".

For 200 years the Corinthians sold their pottery all over the Greek world, and Corinth became a wealthy and busy trading center. In metalworking and pottery, the work was very hard. The potters could be found in a part of Athens known as the Kerameikos, or Potters' Quarter. They acquired their clay from the quarries at Cape Colias, six miles from the city. They mixed it with ochre or vermilion to color it yellow or red, and turned it on simple wheels. The molded articles were then dried in the sun and specialized painters decorated them by hand. The Sphinx, an imaginary creature of ancient myths, is most remembered for the riddle given to her by the Muses, "What creature has only once voice walks sometimes on four, sometimes on three, and sometimes on two, and is weakest when it walks on four? "Man!" She often sat perched on Mount Phicium, asking each passing person a riddle. If they answered her wrong, she would eat them. It is also believed that The Sphinx leaped to her death when she asked Oedipus a riddle and was given the correct answer. The Egyptians, Greeks and peoples of the Near East all had stories about such a creature. The Egyptian Sphinx usually had the head of a man and the body, legs, feet and tail of a lion. The Greek Sphinx usually had the head of a woman and according to Greek literature, lived on a high rock outside of the city of Thebes. The Great Sphinx that stands at Giza near the Great Pyramid in Egypt is 240 feet long and approximately 66 feet high and is one of the most famous monuments in the world.

The ancient Greeks were the firs to develop a democratic way of life. More than 200 years age, they started the idea that every citizen should take an active part in Government, historians regard them as the founder of western civilization. Greek civilization was far more advanced than any other historians were. Orators, philosophers, and poets were Greek. The Greeks were the first to study botany, geometry, medicine, physic and zoology on a scientific basic. They also held the first athletic games.

The ancient Greeks called themselves Hellenes, and their land Hellas. They never formed a national government, but a common culture, religious, and language united them. Greeks called anyone whose active language was Greek a Hellene, even if he did not live in Greece, and anyone not speaking Greek a barbarian. Greek civilization developed on a rocky, mountainous peninsula that juts onto the Mediterranean Sea from southeastern Europe, and on the Islands in the nearby sea. The people of each plain and island formed an independent community called a city-state. No city-state had enough good land to support its entire people. Communities quarreled with one another instead of uniting. Athens and Sparta became the most famous city-states.

Ancient Greek pottery can be purchased at our online antiquities store http://www.worldwidestore.com/AScomputerM4.htm