Gemport’s Goldsmithing Services

We buy old gold, even your broken pieces. Cash or trade for in-store stock or credit. We’ll also custom design you a new piece if you supply the gold. Drop in and discuss your project with Luc or Joan

Gold Facts

Gold was the first metal widely known to our species. When thinking about the historical progress of technology, we consider the development of iron and copper-working as the greatest contributions to our species’ economic and cultural progress – but gold came first. Gold is the easiest of the metals to work. It occurs in a virtually pure and workable state, whereas most other metals tend to be found in ore-bodies that pose some difficulty in smelting. Gold’s early uses were no doubt ornamental, and its brilliance and permanence (it neither corrodes nor tarnishes) linked it to deities and royalty in early civilizations .

• The chemical symbol for gold is Au.
• Gold’s atomic number is 79 and its atomic weight  is 196.967.
• Gold melts at 1064.43° Centigrade
• The specific gravity of gold is 19.3, meaning gold  weighs 19.3 times more than an equal volume of  water.

Weight Equivalents

• 1 troy ounce = 1,097 ordinary ounces
• 1 troy ounce = 480 grains
• 1 troy ounce = 31.1 grams
• 1000 troy ounces = 31.3 kilograms
• 1 gram = .03215 troy ounces
• 1 kilogram = 32.15 troy ounces
• 1 tonne = 32.150 troy ounces
• 1 ordinary ounce = .9115 troy ounces
• 1 ordinary pound = 14.58 troy ounces

Percent Gold = European System = Karat System

• 100 % = 1000 fine = 24 karat
• 91.7 % = 917 fine = 22 karat
• 75.0 % = 750 fine = 18 karat
• 58.5 % = 585 fine = 14 karat 41.6 % = 416 fine = 10 karat

Gold History

Gold has a long and complex history. From gold’s first discovery, it has symbolized wealth and guaranteed power. Gold has caused obsession in men and nations, destroyed some cultures and gave power to others. Archaeological digs suggest the use of Gold began in the Middle East where the first known civilizations began. The oldest pieces of gold jewelry, Egyptian jewelry, were found in the tomb of Queen Zer and of Queen Pu-abi of Ur in Sumeria and are the oldest examples found of any kind of jewelry in a find from the third millennium BC. Over the centuries, most of the Egyptian tombs were raided, but the tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered undisturbed by modern archaeologists. Inside, the largest collection of gold and jewelry in the world was found and included a gold coffin whose quality showed the advanced state of Egyptian craftsmanship and goldworking (second millennium BC).

The Persian Empire, in what is now Iran, made frequent use of Gold in artwork as part of the religion of Zoroastrianism. Persian goldwork is most famous for its animal art, which was modified after the Arabs conquered the area in the 7th century AD.

When Rome began to flourish, the city attracted talented Gold artisans who created gold jewelry of wide variety. The use of gold in Rome later expanded into household items and furniture in the homes of the higher classes. By the third century AD, the citizens of Rome wore necklaces that contained coins with the image of the emperor. As Christianity spread through the European continent, Europeans ceased burying their dead with their jewelry. As a result, few gold items survive from the Middle Ages, except those of royalty and from church hoards.

In the Americas, the skill of Pre-Columbian cultures in the use of Gold was highly advanced long before the arrival of the Spanish. Indian goldsmiths had mastered most of the techniques known by their European contemporaries when the Spanish arrived. They were adept at filigree, granulation, pressing and hammering, inlay and lost-wax methods. The Spanish conquerors melted down most of the gold that they took from the peoples of this region and most of the remaining examples have come from modern excavations of grave sites. The greatest deposits of gold from these times were in the Andes and in Columbia.

During the frontier days of the United States news of the discovery of gold in a region could result in thousands of new settlers, many risking their lives to find gold. Gold rushes occurred in many of the Western States, the most famous occurring in California at Sutter’s Mill in 1848. Elsewhere, gold rushes happened in Australia in 1851, South Africa in 1884 and Canada in 1897.

The rise of a gold standard was meant to stabilize the global economy, dictating that a nation must limit its issued currency to the amount of gold it held in reserve. Great Britain was the first to adopt the gold standard in 1821, followed, in the 1870s, by the rest of Europe. The system remained in effect until the end of the first world war, after which the US was the only country still honouring the Gold Standard. After the war, other countries were allowed to keep reserves of major currencies instead of gold. The arrival of the great depression marked the end of the U.S. export of gold in the 1930s. By the mid 20th century, the US dollar had replaced gold in international trade.

Gemport’s Goldsmithing Services

We buy old gold, even your broken pieces. Cash or trade for in-store stock or credit. We’ll also custom design you a new piece if you supply the gold. Drop in and discuss your project with Luc, Joan, Emilie or Chad.