Gold Facts

All of the gold in the world could be compressed into an 18-yard cube, which is about 1/10 the mass of the Washington Monument.

It is believed that only 88,000 tons of gold have been taken from the earth since recorded history, leaving far more yet to be discovered.

A one-ounce gold nugget is rarer and harder to find than a five-carat diamond.

Even though gold is rare, it is far easier to find than winning a major state lottery.

Gold is so heavy that one cubic foot of it weighs half a ton. Gold is six to seven times heavier than other materials that equal its size. The largest gold nugget found in the U.S. weighed 195 pounds; it came from California.

A single ounce of gold can be drawn into a wire 60 miles long. Gold can be hammered so thin that sunlight can shine through it. Gold can be hammered into sheets so thin that a pile of them an inch high would contain more than 200,000 separate sheets.

The chemical symbol for gold is Au, from the Latin aurum, which means 'shining dawn'. Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn which links to the warm, yellow color of gold. Gold and copper are the only two non white colored metals.

Gold is still mined in its metallic form in over 60 countries around the world.

Gold is referred to as a precious and a noble metal.

Gold has an excellent chemical stability with a high resistance to corrosion and oxidation.