Gold is the oldest precious metal known in human history. It is difficult to pinpoint the earliest use of gold but archaeological evidence suggests that gold was first found in Spanish caves used by Paleolithic Man some 40,000 years ago. The earliest gold jewellery or jewelry dates back 6000 year ago to the Sumerian people who reside in now what is known as Iraq.

The commercial use of gold dates back to the Ancient Egyptians who were the largest producer of gold at the time. The goldsmiths at the time through their exquisite craftsmanship created some of the most stunning artifact and earliest of gold jewellery pieces. In the tomb of King who died in 1350 B.C, amongst the treasures of history were jewellery such as gold thrones, gold bracelets, gold anklets, gold rings and gold charms.

 The most amazing aspect of such riches was the coffin of the Boy King that was also made of Gold. The use of Gold as an economic medium goes far back as 2000 years ago where the first coins were produced in the Kingdom Lydia (part of Modern turkey) between 643 to 630 BC. These coins were made of natural occurring alloy of gold, 75 % Gold and 25% Silver. The Kings royal stamp guaranteed the weight and purity of the coins, today this is called a Hallmark. Around this time frame both India and China began to circulate gold coins in their economies and this helped seal the image of gold as being one of the most valuable substances in the world.

Today gold is still considered important in many countries’ economies even though its used as a standard for the worlds monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed weight of gold and all currency issuance is to one degree or another regulated by the supply of gold.

The value of gold resulted in a massive effort of gold mining and led to the frenzy of the gold rushes. During the 19th and 20th century these gold rushes transformed places like California in the USA, the Victorian Goldfields of Australia and Canada. Gold in modern times has many uses, the most obvious use of gold is in the manufacture of jewellery.

Other uses include its uses in biomedical, pollution control, mobile phones, airbags, laptops and space technology. It is estimated 12 % of gold is used in industrial applications.