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Why is Gold (AU) valued so highly? Isn't it just a hunk of metal?

Gold | a chemical element with the symbol Au (from Latin: aurum, "shining dawn", hence adjective, aureate) and an atomic number of 79. It has been a highly sought-after precious metal for coinage, jewelry, and other arts since the beginning of recorded history.

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Actually why are Gold & other things like Diamonds, Rubies, etc valued so highly? We don't need them to survive, or do we? Isn't food more valuable? Dollars are just Paper, right?

asked Jul 01 '10 at 12:24

r0bErT4u's gravatar image


It's so highly priced as gold is a highly sought commodity, therefore due to it's rarity, it's price remains high. Also, it is durable, and quite resistant to corrosion, making it ideal for jewellery.

Sorry if this was an obvious answer, and if it wasn't, I hope it helps.

answered Jul 01 '10 at 21:21

Maeurd's gravatar image


Well, gold is rare to find. There aren't many places in the world to find gold. Plus, the gold rush in California and in Alaska sucked up most of the gold in North America.

answered Jul 01 '10 at 20:11

archaeme's gravatar image


Monetary value is usually determined by availability and demand. As it stands the amount of gold produced per kilo of rock mined is rather minuscule hence the relatively high price. In fact it has been said that more gold per kilo can be found in landfills due to the use of gold in electronics such as mobile phones.

answered Jul 01 '10 at 20:13

jwonno's gravatar image


Gold is also used in medicine (gold salts to help treat rheumatoid arthritis, for example) and in the aerospace industry (space telescopes like Hubble's replacement in the coming decade, the James Webb Space Telescope - http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/mirror.html - and other satellites) and electronics. Its many applications and relative rarity ensure its value remains high, and that's one reason nations that have gold reserves maintain those reserves.

answered Jul 01 '10 at 21:43

ageekmom's gravatar image

ageekmom ♦

edited Jul 01 '10 at 21:44

actually real treasure in people are their minds, if u can pull things off and figure out problems of yours n world u can easily earn this damn metal and a good life and lot of people who r worth more than this metal are really really brilliant beings in terms of mind

hence forth mind is more valuable then this metal or anything that exist in planet!

answered Oct 22 '11 at 14:26

bharatkumargupta's gravatar image


edited Oct 22 '11 at 14:30

Well we have to have something that values much! :D :D :D

answered Jul 01 '10 at 21:56

Dark%20Avenger's gravatar image

Dark Avenger

I still don't get it., by the way I'm the guy who asked "why gold is precious" robert4u redirected me here but still it's unclear to me.

you see, there are a lot of other useful things in this world. esp. silicon isn't it just a fad of our old generation?

a businessman told me this: "if there's one thing in this world that never depreciates, it's gold"

and I don't understand why the world treasures gold so much. yes it has its use, so what? there are several other chemicals/metals /compounds that are more useful in this planet, like Uranium ;)

I actually treasure semi-conductors more than gold.

and Ive heard that our money is equivalent to a gold reserve? hell why not just aluminum reserve? or stone reserve? or Nuclean reserve? Or Power reserve? or Oil reserve? why the hell is it gold?! HAHAHAH.

answered Oct 22 '11 at 09:43

xedric14's gravatar image



Actually worth it's weight both uranium and most semiconductors are more expensive than gold. Gold as a material is not very expensive, it's the processing that's expensive. The reason a gold necklace is expensive is because it's a hand made craft. The amount of gold used in gold plated contacts is negligible, but the making is extremely time consuming, that's why it's expensive. Gold is very useful in many scientific and technology processes and it's tedious to find and process. That's why it's expensive. Copper is on the same route because we're using up the reserves way to fast. When I was a junkie I used to make a living peeling old cables for copper and sell it. You could buy a lump of gold for not a lot, but you can't really use if for anything. Platinum is even worse. I believe heroin is more expensive than gold, so is saffron.

(Oct 22 '11 at 14:23) Yarvaxea Yarvaxea's gravatar image
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Asked: Jul 01 '10 at 12:24

Seen: 3,569 times

Last updated: Oct 22 '11 at 21:49