Saturday, February 5, 2011

Numbers and facts about gold

Some of the more extraordinary statistics which gold has accumulated across the centuries and around the world. 
* 79- protons The atomic number of gold, which means there are 79 protons in the nucleus of every atom of gold.
*  49ers- The 40,000 miners who joined the California Gold Rush in 1849 were called “49ers”. Only a very few ever got rich.
* 50 -miles One ounce of gold can be stretched to a length of 50 miles; the resulting wire would be just five microns wide.
 *  7.2 Million --- the number of times that all of the existing gold in the world, turned into 5 micron wire, could wrap around the planet.
 *  9- metres- square One ounce of pure gold could be hammered into a single sheet nine metres square.
 * 1064 degrees- centigrade Gold melts at 1064 degrees centigrade.
 * 2808 degrees centigrade ...And only boils at 2808 degrees centigrade.
 * 165,000 tonnes- This is the total number of tonnes of gold mined since the beginning of civilisation.
 * 20 metres cubed -... all of which would fit into a crate of 20 cubic metres..
 *  90% -Over 90 percent of the world’s gold has been mined since the California Gold Rush.
 * 100 -million million people worldwide depend on gold mining for their livelihood.
 *  31.103 grammes- The number of grams in a troy ounce of gold.
 * 400 troy ounces- The number of troy ounces in a “London Good Delivery Bar”.
 * 200 gold coins -Julius Caesar gave two hundred gold coins to each of his soldiers from the spoils of war in defeating Gaul.
  * 4,600 tonnes- Fort Knox holds 4,600 tonnes of gold.
  * 6,200 bars- And the US Federal Reserve holds 6,200.
  * 37 degrees- The temperature of the human body is 37 degrees centigrade. Because of gold’s unique conductivity, gold jewellery rapidly matches your body’s heat, becoming part of you.
  *  1oz- It is rarer to find a one ounce nugget of gold than a five carat diamond.
  * 60% -The percentage of gold mined today that becomes jewellery.
  * 394% -increase The % increase in the price of gold from Dec 2000 to October 2010.
  * 750 -parts per thousand The number of parts per thousand of pure gold in 18 carat gold.
  * 95 BC -In 95 BC, Chinese Emperor Hsiao Wu I minted gold commemorative piece to celebrate the sighting of a unicorn.
   * 53cm- The largest gold coin ever minted, a 2007 Canadian $1,000,000 Maple Leaf is 53cm in diameter.
   * 1922- Howard Carter made his famous “tiny breach of the top left hand corner of the doorway” to reveal the first glimpse of  Tutankhamun’s tomb on 26 November 1922.
* 15,000 tonnes- Even at only 10 parts of gold per quadrillion, the world’s oceans are estimated to hold up to 15,000 tonnes of gold.
*  2316 troy ounces- The largest ever true gold nugget weighted 2316 troy ounces when found at Moliagul in Australia in 1969. It was called the “Welcome Stranger”.
 *  US$55 billion- In November 2010, the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) fund, a World Gold Council sponsored exchange traded fund, held over $55 billion assets under management.
 * 60%- World Gold Council members collectively represent around 60% of all corporate mining activity.
 * 35  -The number of times gold has reached a new high in 2010

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