What is the allure of gold? (mostly OT)
clw54
Posts: 3,815 ✭✭✭
On my desk I have a 1901-S $10 gold piece and it got me to wondering what it is that people, myself included, like so much about it. It seems to be universal. Civilizations have liked gold for thousands of years. But why? You can't eat it or use it for shelter, it's not necessary for survival. It just looks good. It has no real value other than people want it. Just what is the allure that it holds for us?
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It is also relatively rare, soft and a different color from most other grey or silver-ish colored metals.
It can be easily shaped and is so maleable that it can easily form very thin gold leaf.
The electronic configuration, which gives gold, silver and copper their high electrical conducivities, is also responsible for more "life" in the appearance of gold than of other metals.
I have to concur that gold found it's appeal to man because of it's physical properties. They were able to find it free and chemically unbound in the earth while other metals like lead and iron had to be mined as an ore and reduced from said ore to get the metal. It also has a distinct color to it which is vastly different than any other metal. (Humans are attracted to "differences". Why do you think mercury is such a fascinating element to so many people? It's because it's a metal AND a liquid which is not normally seen. Too bad it's so toxic.
<< <i>Lead meets many of the above criteria - except for the shiny part.
Lead is shiny before it oxidizes. And it tastes gooooooooooood.
KJ
<< <i>All good points. I would simply add Gold is created within the furnace of a star. It is not an earthly creation, like the Diamond is. Gold has traveled through the vastness of space, to reach earth. Heavy metals like gold may, or may not (who really knows?), carry some cosmic allure, due to the source of their creation. The minds of most of us earth bound men and women are often fascinated by the greater universal verities
KJ >>
Is that true? I've never heard that.
> Is that true? I've never heard that.
I first read about it back in Coin World (mid 1980's ?). I thought it was kind of amazing. Then, not too long ago, I saw it again. I think it might have been in National Geographic? I wish I had the ability to explain it in words we could all understand!
KJ
`Benjamin Franklin`
<< <i> I would simply add Gold is created within the furnace of a star. It is not an earthly creation, >>
Of course the same can be said for all elements with atomic numbers above 2 (helium) and some of the helium as well. Gold is nothing special in that respect. And actually gold (and all of the elements with higher atomic numbers than Iron) is created in the death throes of the star as it blows itself to pieces. The normal fusion reactions at the center of a burning star will not create any elements beyond Iron because the fusing of Iron does not produce energy, it consumes it.
Personally I don't really care for gold. I prefer the warmth of copper.
The above is not intended to slam people who enjoy collecting gold coins. If you like collecting gold coins, that's fine with me.
"Seu cabra da peste,
"Sou Mangueira......."
<< <i>You can't eat it or use it for shelter, it's not necessary for survival. It just looks good. It has no real value other than people want it. Just what is the allure that it holds for us? >>
The same can be said for Coke, Pepsi and half the stuff in WalMart, except the only real justification for its existence is that it keeps people employed.
When I grow up in Soviet Union, I always heard stories from my parent how
they survive during the WW II. The leave Ukraine in 1941 during the German
occupation and came in one of the former soviet middle east republic. This is
A long story, but trading gold coins and jewelry for food and clothes help them to survive that evacuation. To listen these stories, I always think, this is the past; it will be never happen again. But when Chernobyl time came out , to save our kids, my wife took our children and left from Ukraine to middle part of Russia , but the Government close all banks and no cash was available in this time. And now back to the gold, she took
all gold jewelry and coins and trade them in Russia for money. I know you will say
USA is not Russia, but you never know.... .
Thank you for reading my post.
when i was buying jefferson nickels ,some cost around $500.00 dollar,i was always worrying about them going down in price.
littlejohn
It has a few industrial purposes, but for the most part gold's value is in the trust we
have all placed in it and our desire to aquire it. I personally love gold. I keep a portion
of my investments in gold mining stock and I own a small number of bullion coins.
My parents emigrated to the US from Greece and have told me stories about how
entire fortunes were lost during the WWII and how people used gold (British
Sovereigns, mostly) as the only accepted currency for financial transactions during that
period.
Here in the US we have been blessed with some 30 years of finanical stability, but
we only need to go back to the inflationary period of the 70s to see what can happen
when paper money loses value.
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At a restaurant that evening, there was a married couple that said they moved there just to mine their claim. Everyone there had tall tales to tell about fist size nuggets and such, but all the locals dedicated their lives to the hunt. I guess for some the draw is stronger than others but at least some attraction seems to be a human trait.
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Here in the US we have been blessed with some 30 years of finanical stability, but we only need to go back to the inflationary period of the 70s to see what can happen when paper money loses value.
I have to disagree with the stability theory of the past 30 years. If anything the transfer to pure fiat has caused instability in our world economies. every little upset breeds war, inflation, deflation, etc.
We are never without inflation since the creation of the FED in 1913.
Massive govt and market manipulations may appear to be stable in the past 30 years but if you look at the price swings, and massive productions of currency, shifting of wealth towards the upper classes, and loss of real wages, etc. one may form a diff view.
Paper money has been losing its value all througout the 1980's and 1990's too, but not as quick as it did in the 70's when the "gold" lever was officially pushed in 1974. That gold coin represents a means to stabilize currency. Our currency has lost half its value once gain since around 1980, that's not stable to me. Gold is still seeking it's true value relative to currency printed thru the 1980's and 1990's. This was it's original use.
roadrunner
At one point in the ancient world silver was valued higher than gold since pure gold can be found but silver requires refining.
Adolf Hitler
It's heavy and shiny and a pretty color
if shaped by molds or dies, it can be even more neat, even beautiful.
people pay money for neat things with neat properties.
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Paul