The History Of Gold
The following is a partial time line of gold, by the National Mining
Association in Washington, DC. Notice the controling power of gold as you read this.
4000
B. C. A culture, centered in what is today Eastern Europe, begins to use gold to fashion decorative objects.
3000 B. C. The Sumer civilization of southern Iraq uses gold to create a wide range of jewelry still worn
today.
1500 B. C. The immense gold-bearing regions of Nubia make Egypt a wealthy nation, as gold becomes
the recognized medium of exchange for international trade.
1350 B. C. The Babylonians begin to use
fire assay to test the purity of gold.
1200 B. C. Unshorn sheepskin is used to recover gold dust from
river sands on the eastern shores of the Black Sea.
58 B. C. After a victorious campaign in
Gaul, Julius Caeser brings back enough gold to give 200 coins to each of his soldiers and repay all of Rome’s debts.
699 A. D. The Byzantine Empire resumes gold mining in central Europe and France, an area untouched
since the fall of the Roman Empire.
814 A. D. Charlesmagne overruns the Avars and plunders their vast
quantities of gold, making it possible for him to take control over much of Western Europe.
1299 A. D.
Marco Polo writes of his travels to the Far East, where the “gold wealth was almost unlimited.”
1377
A. D. Great Britain shifts to a monetary system based on gold and silver.
1511 A. D. King Ferdinand
of Spain says to explorers, “Get gold, humanely if you can, but all hazards, get gold,” launching massive expeditions
to the newly discovered lands of the Western Hemisphere.
1700 A. D. Gold is discovered in Brazil, which
becomes the largest producer of gold by 1720, with nearly two thirds of the world’s output.
1787 A. D.
First U. S. gold coin is struck.
1792 A. D. The Coinage Act places the United States on a bimetallic
silver-gold standard, and defines the U.S. dollar as equivalent to 24.75 grains of fine gold.
1803 A. D.
Gold is discovered at Little Meadow Creek, North Carolina, sparking the first U.S. gold rush.
1848 A. D.
John Marshall finds flakes of gold while building a sawmill near Sacramento, California, triggering the California Gold Rush
and hastening the settlement of the American West.
1868 A. D. George Harrison, while digging
up stones to build a house, discovers gold in South Africa – since then, the source of nearly 40% of all gold ever minded.
1898 A. D. Two prospectors discover gold while fishing in Klondike, Alaska, spawning the last gold rush
of the century.
The Engelhard Corporation introduces an organic medium to print gold on surfaces, the medium
becomes the foundation for microcircuit printing technology.
1927 A .D. An extensive medical
study conducted in France proves gold to be valuable in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
1934 A. D.
President Roosevelt reduces the dollar by increasing the price of gold to $35 per ounce.
1945 A. D.
Gold-backing of Federal Reserve Notes is reduced by 25.5 %.
1947 A. D. The first transistor is assembled
at AT&T Bell Laboratories using gold contacts pressed into a germanium surface.
1961 A. D.
Americans are forbidden to own gold abroad as well as at home.
1968 A. D. Gold-backing of Federal
Reserve Notes is eliminated.
Intel introduces a microchip with 1.024 transistors interconnected with invisibly
small gold circuits.
1971 A. D. U.S. devalues the dollar by raising the official dollar price
of gold to $38 per ounce.
1973 A. D. On February 13, U. S. devalues the dollar again and announces
it will raise the official dollar price of gold to $42.22 per troy ounce. Dollar-selling continues, and finally
all currencies are allowed to “float” freely, without regard to the price of gold.
1974 A. D.
Americans are permitted to own gold, other than just jewelry as of December 31.
1978 A. D. By Act of
Congress, the U.S. abolishes the official price of gold. Member governments are free to buy and sell gold in private
markets.
1980 A. D. U.S. Treasury sells 15.8 million troy ounces of gold to strengthen the U. S. trade
balance.
1980 A. D. Gold reaches intra-day historic high of $870 on January 21 in New York and by the
year-end closes at $591.
1982 A. D. New gold deposits are discovered in North America and Australia.
China introduces the Panda bullion coin.
1986 A. D. The American Eagle Gold Bullion is introduced by the
U.S. Mint.
1987 A. D. World stock markets suffer sharp reversal on October 19; volatile investment
markets increase gold trading activity.
1989 A. D. Austria introduces the Philharmoniker bullion coin.
1990 A. D. United States becomes the world’s second largest gold producing nation.
1993
A. D. Germany lifts its value added tax restrictions on financial gold, causing a resurgence of private demand
of gold. India and Turkey liberalize their gold markets.
1994 A. D. Russia formally establishes
a domestic gold market.
1997 A. D. Congress passes Taxpayers Relief Act, allowing U.S. Individual Retirement
Account holders to buy gold bullion coins and bars for their accounts as long as they are of a fineness equal to, or exceeding,
99.5% percent gold.
1999 A. D. The Euro is introduced, backed by a new European Central Bank holding
15% of its reserves in gold.
2000 A. D. Astronomers at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii use giant gold-coated
mirrors to capture the most detailed images ever of Neptune and Uranus.
