international gold standard: see international monetary system.

gold standard: see bimetallism; international monetary system; money.

gold rush, influx of prospectors, merchants, adventurers, and others to newly discovered gold fields. One of the most famous of these stampedes in pursuit of riches was the California gold rush. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill early in 1848 brought more than 40,000 prospectors to California within two years. Although few of them struck it rich, their presence was an important stimulus to economic growth. Agriculture, commerce, transportation, and industry grew rapidly to meet the needs of the settlers; mining, too, soon became big business as corporations replaced the individual prospector. Vigilante justice and ad hoc political structures quickly gave way to the complex organization of state government. Other large gold rushes took place in Australia (1851-53); Witwatersrand, South Africa (1884); and the Klondike, Canada (1897-98). The excitement of the California gold-rush days has been captured in the works of Bret Harte and Jack London.

gold, metallic chemical element; symbol Au [Lat. aurum=shining dawn]; at. no. 79; at. wt. 196.9665; m.p. 1,064.43°C;; b.p. 2,808°C;; sp. gr. 19.32 at 20°C;; valence +1 or +3.

Gold is very ductile and is the most malleable metal; it can be beaten into extremely thin sheets of gold leaf. Only silver and copper, which are above it in Group 11 of the periodic table, are better electrical conductors. Gold is chemically inactive. It is unaffected by moisture, oxygen, or ordinary acids but is attacked by the halogens. Aqua regia (a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids that liberates chlorine) is so named for its ability to dissolve gold, the "king" of the metals. Gold forms both aurous (univalent) and auric (trivalent) compounds; auric chloride and chloroauric acid are its most common compounds.

A relatively soft metal, gold is usually hardened by alloying with copper, silver, or other metals. White gold, a substitute for platinum, is an alloy of gold with platinum, palladium, nickel, or nickel and zinc. Green gold, also used by jewelers, is usually an alloy of gold with silver. Alloys of gold with copper are a reddish yellow and are used for coinage and jewelry. Gold is often found in nature alloyed with other metals; when more than 20% of silver is present the alloy is called electrum. The gold content of an alloy is commonly stated in carats, a carat being 1/24 part by weight of the total mass. Pure gold is therefore 24 carats fine; an alloy that is 75% gold is 18 carats fine. Fineness is sometimes expressed in terms of parts per thousand; thus gold containing 10% of other metals is said to have a fineness of 900.

Gold is widely distributed on the earth; although large amounts are present also in seawater, the cost of current methods for recovering it exceeds its value. Most gold is found in the metallic state in the form of dust, grains, flakes, or nuggets. It occurs, usually in association with silver or other metals, in quartz veins or lodes so finely disseminated that it is not visible. It is found also in alluvial placer deposits, which are worked by panning, dredging, and hydraulic mining. Gold is extracted from its ores by mechanical means and separated from other metals by chemical processes, notably the cyanide process, the amalgamation process, and the chlorination process (in this the ore is oxidized and chlorinated and the gold precipitated with hydrogen sulfide). It also occurs in compounds, notably telluride minerals.

Gold has been known from prehistoric times and was possibly the first metal used by humans. It was valued for ornaments (see goldwork), and magical efficacy was attributed to it. In the Middle Ages alchemists sought to transmute baser metals into gold. The quest for gold stimulated European explorations and conquests in the Western Hemisphere, and its discovery has led to many a gold rush. Much of the gold now extracted is used for jewelry. The chief producers are South Africa, the United States (especially in Nevada and Alaska), Australia, Canada, Russia, China, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. For a discussion of the monetary function of gold, see bimetallism; coin; international monetary system; money.

fool's gold: see pyrite.

cloth of gold, fabric woven wholly or partly of gold threads. From remote times gold has been used as material for weaving either alone or with other fibers. In India tapestries were made from gold threads as fine as silk. Cloth of gold was woven on Byzantine looms from the 7th to the 9th cent. and on those of Sicily, Cyprus, Lucca, and Venice in the 10th cent. Some narrow webs were woven in England, as well as palls of gold and silver cloth. Cloths of estate were magnificent gold tissues used to canopy or cover thrones. Baldachin, or fine cloth with gold warp and silk weft, was used ceremonially and also for rich clothing. The use of gold textiles and embroideries in the Middle Ages is illustrated by the pageantry at the meeting of the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520). Gold thread for weaving and embroidery is still made in India, Delhi alone producing many miles per annum, working in the ancient manner. Gold or silver gilt wire is drawn through holes, successively smaller, in a specially devised metal plate, and is used either round or flattened. Modern metallic cloth, known as lamé, is commonly made of a core yarn wound with a thin metal thread, or lamé. Various artificial metallic cloths are also produced.

Atomic Number:	Atomic Number: 79
Atomic Symbol:	Atomic Symbol: Au
	Name of Element: Gold
Atomic Weight:	Atomic Weight: 196.9665
Electron Configuration:	Electron Configuration: 2 · 8 · 1832 · 18 · 1

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Gold Coast: see Ghana, republic.

Gold Coast, city (1991 pop. 256,275), Queensland, E Australia, on the Pacific Ocean. The city, a major resort, stretches for many miles along the coast and extends into New South Wales. In 1994, Queensland decided to amalgamate the city with Albert Shire to create one of three new "super cities." The amalgamation made Gold Coast the second largest municipality in Australia after Brisbane. Its new boundaries extend south to Coolangatta on the border with New South Wales, west to Mt. Tamborine in the remote interior, and north to Beenleigh on the edge of Brisbane.

Field of the Cloth of Gold, locality between Guines and Ardres, not far from Calais, in France, where in 1520 Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France met for the purpose of arranging an alliance. Both kings brought large retinues, and the name given the meeting place reflects the unexampled splendor of the pageantry. The political consequences were negligible, because Henry, who had been undecided whether to support Francis or Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, had already turned toward the emperor and shortly afterward made an alliance with him.

Monetary system in which the standard unit of currency is a fixed quantity of gold or is freely convertible into gold at a fixed price. The gold standard was first adopted in Britain in 1821. Germany, France, and the U.S. instituted it in the 1870s, prompted by North American gold strikes that increased the supply of gold. The gold standard ended with the outbreak of World War I in 1914; it was reestablished in 1928, but because of the relative scarcity of gold, most nations adopted a gold-exchange standard, supplementing their gold reserves with currencies (U.S. dollars and British pounds) convertible into gold at a stable rate of exchange. Though the gold-exchange standard collapsed during the Great Depression, the U.S. set a minimum dollar price for gold, an action that allowed for the restoration of an international gold standard after World War II. In 1971 dwindling gold reserves and an unfavourable balance of payments led the U.S. to suspend the free convertibility of dollars into gold, and the gold standard was abandoned. Seealso bimetallism; exchange rate; silver standard.

Learn more about gold standard with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Rapid influx of fortune seekers to the site of newly discovered gold deposits. In North America, the first major gold strike occurred in California in 1848, when John Marshall, a carpenter building a sawmill for John Sutter, found gold. Within a year about 80,000 “forty-niners” (as the fortune seekers of 1849 were called) had flocked to the California gold fields, and 250,000 had arrived by 1853. Some mining camps grew into permanent settlements, and the demand for food, housing, and supplies propelled the new state's economy. As gold became more difficult to extract, companies and mechanical mining methods replaced individual prospectors. Smaller gold rushes occurred throughout the second half of the 19th century in Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Arizona, and Alaska, resulting in the rapid settlement of many areas; where gold veins proved small, the settlements later became ghost towns. Major gold rushes also occurred in Australia (1851), South Africa (1886), and Canada (1896). Seealso Klondike gold rush.

Learn more about gold rush with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Fund of gold bullion or coin held by a government or bank. In the past, banks accumulated gold reserves to fulfill their promise to pay their depositors in gold. Commercial banks received deposits subject to repayment in gold on demand and issued notes redeemable in gold on demand. Most gold reserves eventually shifted to central banks, which took over the function of issuing paper money. Gold reserves were moved again in the 1930s, when many governments required their central banks to turn over to the national treasuries all or most of their gold holdings. In the U.S., the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 required Federal Reserve banks to turn over all gold bullion or coin to the U.S. Treasury, which placed most of the reserves at Fort Knox.

Learn more about gold reserve with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Metallic chemical element, one of the transition elements, chemical symbol Au, atomic number 79. It is a dense, lustrous, yellow, malleable precious metal, so durable that it is virtually indestructible, often found uncombined in nature. Jewelry and other decorative objects have been crafted from gold for thousands of years. It has been used for coins, to back paper currencies, and as a reserve asset. Gold is widely distributed in all igneous rocks, usually pure but in low concentrations; its recovery from ores and deposits has been a major preoccupation since ancient times (see cyanide process). The world's gold supply has seen three great leaps, with Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas in 1492, with discoveries in California (see gold rush) and Australia (1850–75), and discoveries in Alaska, Yukon (see Klondike), and South Africa (1890–1915). Pure gold is too soft for prolonged handling; it is usually used in alloys with silver, copper, and other metals. In addition to being used in jewelry and as currency, gold is used in electrical contacts and circuits, as a reflective layer in space applications and on building windows, and in filling and replacing teeth. Dental alloys are about 75percnt gold, 10percnt silver. In jewelry, its purity is expressed in 24ths, or karats: 24-karat is pure, 12-karat is 50percnt gold, etc. Its compounds, in which it has valence 1 or 3, are used mainly in plating and other decorative processes; a soluble chloride compound has been used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

Learn more about gold with a free trial on Britannica.com.

or iron pyrite or fool's gold

Naturally occurring, gold-coloured iron disulfide mineral. Pyrite has frequently fooled prospectors into thinking they had discovered gold. Pure pyrite (FeS₂) contains 47percnt iron and 53percnt sulfur, by weight. Pyrite is used commercially as a source of sulfur, particularly for the production of sulfuric acid. Because there are much better sources of iron, it is not generally used as an iron ore. For many years Spain was the largest producer; other countries include Japan, the U.S., Canada, Italy, Norway, Portugal, and Slovakia.

Learn more about pyrite with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born March 6, 1885, Niles, Mich., U.S.—died Sept. 25, 1933, East Hampton, N.Y.) U.S. writer. He worked as a newspaper reporter, sportswriter, and columnist before he began publishing fiction. He won popular success with comic stories about a baseball player, some collected in You Know Me, Al (1916). Later collections, noted for their satire, narrative skill, and convincing vernacular language, include How to Write Short Stories (1924) and The Love Nest (1926). His son, the screenwriter Ring Lardner, Jr., was one of the Hollywood Ten and later wrote such hit movies as M*A*S*H (1970).

Learn more about Lardner, Ring(gold Wilmer) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Section of the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, western Africa. Extending approximately from Axim, Ghana, in the west to the Volta River in the east, it was so called because it was an important source of gold. It was an area of intense colonial rivalry from the 17th century. Acquired as a colony by the British in the 19th century and named the Gold Coast, the area achieved independence as the Republic of Ghana in 1957.

Learn more about Gold Coast with a free trial on Britannica.com.