Gold, Gold And More Gold

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Ancient Greeks thought that gold was made by a concentration of water and sunlight. The king of the Incas, Atahualpa, in 1532 was captured by Spaniards. He offered them enough gold to fill a 18 by 22 foot room. They must not have believed him for he was killed despite the enormous offer. Gold is bendable and malleable enough that one ounce can be pounded down to a sheet that would measure 16.4 feet and would be thinner than a strand of human hair. In 1799 a gold nugget was found that weighed 17 pounds. It was found on a farm in North Carolina. The nugget was used as a door stop for several years until a jeweler saw it and paid $3.50 for it. In 1998 near Ruby, Alaska a nugget was found that weighed 198.10 troy ounces(about 1.0971 ounces)which equals about 20 pounds. Leading the world in stockpiled gold the U.S. holds a cache of 8,133 tons in different depositories such as Fort Knox and the West Point and Denver mints. This is as much as Italy, Germany and the International Monetary Fund which includes 189 countries.