Gold has accompanied humanity for millennia as a symbol of power, wealth, and beauty. Its history is closely linked with culture, economy, and technology.

The oldest known gold artifacts come from the Varna culture around 4500 BCE in present-day Bulgaria.
In Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, gold played an important role from around 3000 BCE. The main sources for extraction were alluvial gold deposits in or along rivers. It was used for jewelry and cult objects.

In antiquity, King Croesus of Lydia minted the first gold coins around 600 BCE. The Roman Empire used gold coins for trade and paying soldiers.

At the same time, the Inca and Maya in South America crafted gold into elaborate jewelry.

In medieval Europe, gold became a symbol of wealth and power for rulers and the church. In 309 CE, Emperor Constantine the Great introduced the Solidus coin in Byzantium. This stable gold currency lasted for centuries.

In the modern era, the lust for gold among European maritime powers such as Spain, Portugal, England, and Italy led to wars and conquests.

The discovery of America and the gold riches of indigenous peoples in Central and South America attracted European — especially Spanish — conquerors who brought gold back to Europe. Silver and gold mines like those in Potosí (Bolivia) and Zacatecas (Mexico) made Spain for a time the richest power in Europe.

In the 19th century, gold deposits on various continents repeatedly attracted large numbers of adventurers. Examples include the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the Klondike Gold Rush in Alaska in 1897. Australia and South Africa also experienced gold rushes.

Starting in 1871, many countries adopted the gold standard by linking their currencies to gold. To stabilize the global economy during World War II, the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 also tied the US dollar to gold. The US dollar became the leading currency in a system of fixed exchange rates designed to secure international payments. The gold standard was abandoned again in the early 1970s.

Today, gold serves as a safe haven investment, central bank reserve, and industrial raw material. The value of gold has risen from 35 US dollars per ounce in 1971 to over 3,000 US dollars per ounce (2025).

Almost half of the gold is used by the jewelry industry. Demand for gold in this sector is especially strong in Asia and the Middle East and is driven by cultural factors. In India, for example, gold plays a significant role in weddings.

About 40 percent of gold is acquired by central banks and other institutions as reserves, and also purchased by private investors in the form of bars or coins. The largest industrial use of gold is in the electrical and electronics industry, but it accounts for only a small share of about six percent.

Gold mostly occurs in nature in its native (elemental) form and, except for combinations with tellurium, selenium, and bismuth, is chemically unbound. It is widely distributed in low concentrations in all magmatic rocks. The gold content in the continental Earth’s crust is approximately 4 grams per 1000 tons of rock.

Gold frequently occurs alongside copper and lead deposits. Although the quantities of gold are often extremely small, it can easily be recovered as a byproduct during the refining of these base metals.

Large masses of gold-bearing rock rich enough to be classified as ores are unusual. There are two known types of deposits with significant gold quantities: hydrothermal veins, in which gold is associated with quartz and pyrite (fool’s gold), and placer deposits formed by the weathering of gold-bearing rocks.

Gold-rich veins form when gold, together with other minerals, is transported to the surface from deep underground in an aqueous solution and later precipitates. In rocks, gold usually occurs as invisible, scattered grains, less commonly as visible flakes, and even more rarely as masses or veins. In California, crystals with diameters of about 2,5 cm or more have been found. In Australia, masses of up to 90 kg of gold have been discovered.

China is the largest gold-producing country, followed by Russia and Australia. Switzerland is the global center for gold trading and dominates gold refining. Other important refining centers include India and Dubai.

The largest single gold mine in the world is the Nevada Gold Mine in the USA. The mine is operated as a joint venture between Barrick Gold and Newmont. In 2024, the mine produced 1,65 million troy ounces of gold, which corresponds to approximately 51 tons.

The Muruntau Gold Mine in Uzbekistan, owned by the state enterprise Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Combinat, has been mining gold since 1958. Also among the top three is the Grasberg Mine in Indonesia, which produces copper and gold. It is one of the largest mining complexes in the world, located in the highlands of the Sudirman Mountains in the Indonesian province of Papua. The state-owned company Inalum holds a majority 51 percent stake, while the US mining company Freeport McMoRan owns the remainder.

After China, India is the world’s largest consumer of gold.

Approximately 3.300 tons of gold are produced annually.

Base metals plated with gold alloys are frequently used to reduce the amount of gold in electronic products as well as in the jewelry industry. Many of these products are continuously redesigned to maintain high performance standards while using less gold.

In general, gold can be replaced by palladium, platinum, and silver.