Why is Gold so Important?

Published here: http://goldsilverworlds.com/gold-silver-general/why-is-gold-so-important/

Why is gold so important? It’s a hard question, right? You must have asked that question to yourself too…why in all those precious metals is gold the most important?  Before answering that question let’s learn first about gold and its uses to tackle that problem.

Gold has been used for thousands of years and by ancient civilizations.  We surely don’t know who first discovered gold, but we’re happy they did. Gold’s history can be traced as far back as 40,000 BC!  Pretty old for a precious metal, right?

Ancient Egyptians

You might wonder what early uses did they have for gold when they first discovered it.  Unfortunately, we don’t know either.  But since 3,000 BC gold played an important role with the Egyptians.  It was used to decorate their temples, weapons, ornaments, and jewelry. To the ancient Egyptians, gold was so important to them that even the capstones in the great pyramid of Giza were made out of gold.

Gold was also used by the Egyptians as their currency.  As a matter of fact, Egyptians are known to  have the first currency exchange in history. One gold unit was equivalent to two and a half pieces of silver.  Not just that, Egyptians also created gold maps to point where gold mines and different deposits of gold were located in the entire Egyptian kingdom.

Ancient Greeks

Gold was used as a symbol and to honor the gods and demigods by the ancient Greeks. In ancient Greek gold is a symbol of wealth and richness, and was also formed as a currency. The ancient  Greeks mined gold throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East since 550 B.C.

Gold mentioned in the Bible

According to the Bible, Genesis 2:10-12 says that the land of Havilah (near Eden) is a place where good qualities of gold can be found. The Aztecs and many other civilizations used gold abundantly in the early history, gold was also used in their religious ceremonies and in their architectural designs.

Gold signifies power and wealth in the earliest civilization.  Those who hold gold also bear a great power including emperors and priests.

Gold has been very important since the early civilizations.  Its uses have been valued throughout  history. The question that struck my mind is why is it so important?  Gold is considered at the present time as a very precious metal due to its characteristics.  Gold is dense, soft, shiny, malleable and a very ductile metal.

We cannot deny the importance of gold in our lives, even in our daily lives we use gold. In fact, an ounce of gold can be pressed and stretched into 50 miles of wire at a one-tenth diameter of a human hair. Some of our precious jewelry is also made out of gold.  It has many uses in a host of industrial applications including wiring in electronics, an anti-glare film lining in the astronauts’ visors, and gold can be used in health and dentistry.

Gold has so many possible uses in our industry, economy and in our lives. The answer to the question of why gold is very important is because of its uses and value in our lives.