The 123's of Gold

By Betsy Johnson

Way before the American Dollar, the British Pound, or the Indian Rupee came on the scene there was another measure of wealth. Gold has been valued as a currency practically since it was found. It is still used today to denote one's wealth. Rare and very heavy, it's been used as a status symbol for kings and merchants alike. This is our guide into the world of gold, and we hope you enjoy this journey into the world of this precious metal.

Denoting itself as one of the worlds most valuable and precious metals, gold sets itself apart from the rest of the precious metals. It is so malleable and soft that just one mere ounce of it will produce a wire that can stretch 5 miles in length. If you would prefer to pound it rather than stretch it, you could create a sheet that will cover 100 square feet. Because it cannot corrode or rust it will last almost indefinitely.

It can be found almost everywhere. It is in our rivers and seas, in the crust of the earth, and in our plants as well. Unfortunately, it is expensive and difficult to extract...which is why it is so pricey. It takes about 2.5 to 3 tons of gold ore to produce one single ounce of pure gold.

Here's a question for you. Do you happen to know what the most popular metal being used in jewelry is? You got it...gold. It is used in heart jewelry, fine jewelry, and cool jewelry as well. Most of this gold goes into one particular form of jewelry...the simple wedding band. Since pure gold is so malleable and soft, it is usually combined with other metals in order to make it more durable and strong, and ensure that it will not bend so easily. What happens when you mix two or more metals together? You get an alloy. Most of the gold that is used in jewelry production today is an alloy.

So, what are these various types of jewelry you ask? How about: (1) Gold jewelry, (2) Rose gold jewelry, (3) Wholesale gold jewelry, (4) White gold jewelry, (5) Gold plated jewelry, (6) Gold body jewelry, (7) 18k gold jewelry, (8) Gold charm jewelry, (9) 24k gold jewelry, (10) 14k gold jewelry, (11) Gold horse jewelry, (12) 22k gold jewelry, (13) Indian gold jewelry, (14) Plus other beautiful gold jewelry items.

Have you ever heard the word karat before? It is often used when referring to gold. It is derived from the word for the fruit of the carob tree. Some popular examples are: the Greek word "keration", the Italian word "carato", and the Arabic word "girat". The seeds of the carob tree were used to measure the size of precious gems in the ancient world. Since the solidus (the pure Byzantine coin) weighed in at 24 karats, the 24 karat mark (or 24KT or 24K) became the mark used to denote that the item in question was in fact made of pure gold.

That's it. We'll wrap up this tour of the world of gold for now. Please visit our blog where we will go into more details on the subject of gold, heart jewelry, and just jewelry in general. See you there... - 33380

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