All of the gold in the world could be compressed into an 18-yard cube, which is about 1/10 the mass of the Washington Monument.

Gold is so heavy that one cubic foot of it weighs half a ton. Gold is six to seven times heavier than other materials that equal its size. The largest gold nugget found in the U.S. weighed 195 pounds; it came from California.

In every cubic mile of sea water there is 25 tons of gold! That's a total of about 10 billion tons of gold in the oceans; however, there's no known way to economically recover it.

Gold can be hammered so thin that sunlight can shine through it. Sheets can be so thin that a pile of them an inch high would contain more than 200,000 separate sheets. A single ounce of gold can be drawn into a wire 60 miles long.

The hardness of pure gold (on moh's scale) is 2-1/2 to 3; the melting point is 2,063 degrees Fahrenheit, specific gravity is 19.32, and tensile strength is 19,000 psi

During the Great Depression, the United States government banned private ownership of gold. The ban was in place for 41 years before it was removed on December 31, 1974.

For jewellery, gold is commonly alloyed with other metals to make the metal hard and to produce specific colours. An alloy of gold, silver, and copper, in which silver predominates, is called "green gold." An alloy of the same three elements in which copper predominates is called "red gold." An alloy of gold and nickel is called "white gold."

The search for gold has been a major force in history. Desire for gold motivated the conquests of Alexander the Great and the campaigns of Julius Caesar. Gold also inspired the voyages of Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, and other explorers. In the Middle Ages, alchemists sought to make gold from the base metals lead and copper. The alchemists failed, but the modern science of chemistry evolved from their work.

In the last 500 years, about 80,000 tons of gold have been taken from the earth. Approximately 45% of all the world's gold is held by governments and central banks as monetary reserves.

Gold can be eaten and is sometimes found dusted on baked goods or chocolates. Gold is found in minute proportions in the human body, even if the individual has never eaten gold.