History
Gold has been considered the most desirable of precious metals, and its value has been used as the standard for many currencies. Gold has been used as a symbol for purity, value and royalty.

Gold was considered as a sign of wealth and prestige in many parts of the world. But gold was made fun of by Thomas More in his essay Utopia. On that imaginary island, gold was in so much abundance that it is used to make chains for slaves, tableware and lavatory-seats. When ambassadors from other countries arrive, dressed in precious gold jewels, the Utopians mistook them for menial servants, paying homage instead to the most modestly-dressed of their party.

Biting gold was one way to test its authenticity in the olden days. Although this is certainly not a professional way of testing gold, the bite test should score the gold since gold is considered a soft metal according to the Mohs' scale of mineral hardness. The purer the gold the easier it should be to mark it. Lead is softer than gold, hence painted lead can cheat this test.

Gold in old age was relatively easy to obtain geologically; however, 75% of all gold ever produced has been extracted since 1910. One main goal of the chemists was to produce gold from other substances, such as lead - and interaction with philosopher's stone. Although they never succeeded in this attempt, the chemists promoted an interest in what can be done with substances, and this laid a basis for today's chemistry.

Their symbol for gold was the circle with a point at its center, which was also the astrological symbol, the Egyptian hieroglyph and the ancient Chinese character for the Sun.

During the 19th century, gold rushes occurred whenever large gold deposits were discovered. The first major gold strike in the United States occurred in a small north Georgia town called Dahlonega. Further gold rushes occurred in California, Colorado, Otago, Australia, Witwatersrand, Black Hills, and Klondike. Because of its historically high value, much of the gold mined throughout history is still in circulation in one form or another.