When I was in college in Vermont, a guy in our dorm named “Barton” was admittedly different. One day, he received a package from a mining supply firm. It contained a mining pan and a few other odds and ends. We learned Barton was determined to find gold in nearby streams. Never mind that, other than a brief gold strike in the mid-1800s, the precious metal just isn’t present in Vermont. Didn’t matter. Barton was determined....
Sadly, his dreams of golden riches never materialized – at least when I knew him. At the time, gold was valued at around $130 per ounce. It would have taken a lot of panning for that to pay off.
Today, gold is 35 times more valuable at near $4,500 per ounce. It’s down from an all-time high of $5,600 in January. So, maybe Barton is still trying in some “gold rich” state doing just fine.
Since the recent surge in gold prices, I’ve been continually asked if now is the time to buy gold before it soars again. My answer is easy and consistent, “I have no idea and know of no one who does.” Regular readers know my crystal ball is perennially unclear. Still, so many are hoping for something akin to the Midas Touch, including the US Mint. The Mint has recently been criticized for striking too many 2026 gold coins priced out of reach for most people.
Admittedly, gold is a curious metal. As investors, collectors and jewelers know, it is a noncorrosive, durable and unreactive metal that is virtually indestructible. The only thing that can affect or dissolve it is a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids.
Gold is naturally non-toxic. Some liqueurs and foods actually contain gold leaf flakes for consumption. In nature it is often over 23 Karats pure. It’s also incredibly malleable. Its pliability makes pure gold useless for jewelry. Consequently, it’s commonly alloyed with silver or copper to fortify it. When combined with silver, it’s called electrum, a mix found in some ancient coins.
Gold is believed to have been created as a result of collisions of supernovas and neutron stars before our solar system was formed. Some scientists speculate much gold was brought to earth due to asteroid bombardments. In truth, no one really knows.
It was recently estimated that upwards of 80 percent of the gold on the earth still hasn’t been retrieved. Such news would normally be encouraging for gold seekers such as Barton. Sadly, for him (and us), it’s believed much of that gold is deep in the earth’s molten core where retrieval is currently impossible. It’s sometimes brought upward by volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. It’s also assumed some deep-water vapors have brought gold quartz to the surface. When the water cools and vaporizes, the quartz with the gold settles on rock surfaces waiting to be found.
What has made gold so appealing for the past 6,000 years is a combination of things. As I said, it is highly malleable. So much so that a single ounce can be spun into a continuous thread 50 miles long, almost as lengthy as the Cape Cod peninsula.
Gold added to food includes flakes sprinkled on some sushi. Others are infused in drinks, particularly “Goldwasser.” That liqueur was created by a Dutchman in 1598 with plentiful gold flakes. During the Renaissance it was believed ingesting gold could treat diseases. That may have been bolstered by memories of the Black Plague that killed 50 million in Europe alone. (Doesn’t work.)
NASA uses pure gold compressed to a micro-thin layer for use on the visors of astronauts. The gold is applied to helmets to reflect dangerous and deadly solar radiation while letting visible light pass. It is also an industrial staple in the production of electronic and digital devices.
To date, the amount of gold recovered would create a block roughly 72 cubic feet in size. Just don’t think about picking it up. The weight of one standard-size “small” bar at Fort Knox is 400 ounces (33 pounds). Right now, the US Federal Reserve now holds 530,000 of those gold bars.
The largest gold nugget ever discovered weighed in at 2316 troy ounces or just under 200 pounds. It was unearthed in Australia in 1869 and given the name “Welcome Stranger.”
Upwards of 49 percent of all gold mined in the world is made into jewelry. That is very evident in India where most wear the gold they own.
Today, Russia and Australia are said to have the greatest untapped gold reserves at 24,000 tonnes. Each have their own gold bullion coins but, in the US, the American gold Eagle and Buffalo gold coins are the most widely held and accepted. At today’s prices, if you are lucky to own any, you are surely lucky enough. Now…where’s Barton?
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