Unique & Little Known Facts About Gold (+3K Views)

…Everyone knows that gold is a valuable commodity….but there is plenty of strange information about gold that you may not be familiar with. Here are 11 bizarre facts.

The comments above & below are edited ([ ]) and abridged (…) excerpts from the original article by ProvidentMetals.com

1. Recent developments in medical science has resulted in gold being chemically liquefied and injected into the muscles of patients with rheumatoid arthritis to treat pain. It’s been reported as successful in 70 percent of all cases.
2. Gold is so malleable and ductile that just one ounce can be drawn into a wire measuring 60 miles long. It can also be hammered into sheets so thin that a one-inch stack would contain over 200,000 sheets.
3. The amount of steel poured around the world in just one hour exceeds the total amount of gold that has been dug up since the beginning of recorded history (an estimated 161,000 tons of gold have been mined). The metal is that rare!
4. The sea is literally filled with gold. The seawater of the earth’s oceans contains about 10 billion tons of gold in total but, unfortunately, the only known methods of recovery exceed the value of the metal itself.
5. The visors on astronaut helmets are coated in a transparent layer of gold. It’s thin enough to allow astronauts to see, yet it reflects infrared rays, reduces glare, and minimizes heat from sunlight.
6. The word “gold” comes the Old English word “geolu,” which means yellow. “Teocuitatl,” the Aztec word for gold, was translated to “excrement of the gods” by Europeans.
7. In 2010, the world’s first gold vending machine was unveiled in a luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi. The machine itself was covered in 24-carat gold.
8. In the 14th century, people believed that drinking molten gold and crushed emeralds was a viable treatment for the bubonic plague. Pouring molten gold down a person’s throat was also a form of execution practiced by the Romans and the Spanish Inquisition.
9. Scientists believe that gold exists on Venus, Mars, and Mercury.
10. Though gold is tasteless, it is edible and used in food and drink around the world. Asian countries add gold to jelly snacks, tea, and coffee. It’s also common for European countries to add gold to bottles of liquor.
11. Elvis Presley owned several cars made by Stutz Motor Company. Every part that was traditionally chrome was converted to gold for his vehicles.

Do you know any unusual facts about gold? We’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments below!