All About Gold

Gold is one of the most beautiful and sought-after precious metals around the world, and it's no secret why. Gold has a lot going for it and its popularity has only risen throughout history.

In medieval times, gold was thought to have actual health benefits. Physicians of the time (if they can be called that) believed that anything so beautiful and pure must be beneficial to mankind. It was common practice for the nobility of the time to sprinkle gold flakes onto their food for "health reasons" or to flaunt their incredible wealth to their guests.

Surprisingly little has changed today. In upscale restaurants, gold flakes are still used to bring out the high-class appeal, especially with desserts and fine liquors.

Since gold is extremely soft and malleable (able to be shaped and molded to fit a design), the desire for gold jewelry and decorations have continued to rise. Most of today's gold jewelry ranges anywhere from 10-24 carats, with 24 carats being pure gold. Lesser carat jewelry is made up of a certain amount of gold mixed with other metals.

Because gold is so soft and shapeable, it bonds easily with other metals and can create some remarkable designs in deep, exotic colors and styles. Eighteen karat gold is blended with copper to give gold jewelry a more reddish tone.

Specialized jewelry can even be made to create "blue gold" or "purple gold" by mixing gold with other metals like iron and aluminum. As a process, this is much rarer than the more mainstream, and much more popular "white gold" which is created using nickel and zinc.

If ever there were any doubt about gold's historic popularity, one need look no further than the popular California Gold Rush in the 1800's. Over 300,000 families headed west to prospect for gold. Other popular "gold towns" include the Black Hills in South Dakota and the Klondike.

While the majority of the prospectors did not strike it rich, those that did turned the gold rush into a historic symbol of man's undying lust for this beautiful metal. Interestingly, much of the gold that was mined then is still in circulation today - a testament to gold's extreme popularity throughout the centuries.

Gold hit a record-breaking $850 an ounce in the 1980's (over $1600 in today's value) and its value is steadily increasing. The price of gold is currently between $850-$930 an ounce but this fluctuates from day to day due to market demand. To see what gold is currently selling for, you can find an up-to-date gold chart on cash4gold.com.

If you'd like to "cash in" on the popularity of gold without backbreaking prospecting work - the Internet makes it easy. Just point your browser to cash4gold to find out how to get top dollar for your gold jewelry. Any and all gold jewelry from 10k-24k is accepted, and a check is mailed to you for the refined value of your gold. It certainly beats a shovel and pick-axe!