Thomas Seelem

$5k in gold vs $5k in silver You case you missed it, gold is much rarer than silver, and this imbalance in supply and demand between the two metals makes up the majority of the difference in their prices. It’s estimated that all the gold that has been mined throughout history and is yet to be mined can fit in just over three Olympic-sized swimming pools at a total of 244,000 metric tons. Compare that to silver, which has an estimated 1.74 million metric tons that has been mined to date. Yet, humankind's attitude to gold is bizarre. Chemically, it is uninteresting - it barely reacts with any other element. Yet, of all the 118 elements in the periodic table, gold is the one we humans have always tended to choose to use as currency. Why? Gold has held a unique place among humanity and been a source of value since it was first mined in the days of King Croesus in Lydia in 550 BCE. Civilisations of past have associated gold with qualities like immortality and enlightenment, and today’s society still treat it as a symbol of perfection, whether it’s by competing for a gold medal or abiding by the ‘golden rule’. It has been gifted to gods, created mythical golden cities like El Dorado and created real-life gold rushes across the world, spanning from Canada to South Africa. Gold, soft to the touch with a satisfying weight to hold, boasts some unique qualities compared to other metals, predominantly its indestructible nature and resilience. It is chemically inactive, meaning it is anti-corrosive and resistant enough to remain unchanged for thousands of years. It is a good thermal and electrical conductor. It is extremely ductile, meaning it can be stretched without breaking, and malleable to allow it to be spread into thin sheets without cracking. Just one gram of gold can be hammered out into a metre-wide sheet or pulled into a 165 metre long wire. Due to the softness of gold it is often alloyed with harder metals like silver or copper to improve strength. The purity of gold is measured in carats, with 24 carats equal to 100% pure gold and 18-carat gold representing an alloy with silver containing 750 parts gold per 1000. Researchers even found evidence that Earth’s minable gold, came from billions of tons of meteorites that hit Earth more than 200 million years after our planet formed. This is still a questionable theory and it has not been proved yet, but it's certainly adding to the ancestral fashion of gold.