Gold
The Spanish explorers in the 16th century traveled across the Atlantic Ocean on a mission of dual purposes. It was God and gold. Which one was more important is a question that was never truly answered.
The Aztecs of Mexico and the Incas of Peru were brutalized by Cortez and Pizarro. The Spaniards were fed by a legend called El Dorado. Gold was reputed to be as common as sand. The Gold Rush of 1849 brought people from all over the world to California. So many miners came to the California territory that it had enough people to be admitted as a state in 1850.
As the price of gold, in today’s world, hovers around $1,500 an ounce, we see a new form of Gold Rush. Investors are selling out reasonable investments and rushing headlong into gold.
When I graduated from dental school in 1959 the precious metal was pegged by the government at $35 an ounce. Only dentists and jewelers and specified people were allowed to own gold. President Nixon in 1971 passed legislation that allowed the price to roam free. The metal started on its long trip to $1,500, today’s price. About 20 years ago, gold reached $800 an ounce, and then slid back.
The science of alchemy was a dream in Europe during the Middle Ages. Basically it was thought that magicians could magically turn lead to gold. It was chicanery.
In dentistry, gold is the best of all metals. It doesn’t rust and is easy to work with. Gold can be alloyed easily with other metals such as copper and silver. It is rumored that women love gold and can be won over by gold jewelry.
South Africa is the world’s leading gold mining country. Gold mining is measured in Troy ounces, not tons like other metals.
Here are some golden phrases in our English language: good as gold, golden opportunity, golden hands, Goldfinger, goldene medina (USA), gold in the streets, and Gold Coast.
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