The History of Gold

by Vpalkar CA V Paalkar & Co.

Gold or a product involving Gold is hot these days. Should you buy it? And it is also attracting Fund Managers to create a financial product around Gold. We already have over 11 Gold ETFs in India. Other Gold Funds in India have been reviewed too.

Let us go back in time and take a look at the history of gold. For thousands of years, gold has been used as a currency, investment, and commodity cementing its importance as an asset

4600 B.C. The earliest evidence of gold used as jewelry

1091 B.C. China legalizes the use of gold as money

560 B.C. to400 A.D. Gold coins are minted by King Croesus (present-day Turkey); Julius Caesar introduces a gold coin as a common currency

1284 to1300 Venice and Great Britain issue the gold ducat and florin, respectively

From 1511 to1700 Spain launches its hunt for gold and finds massive reserves in Brazil in 1700. By 1720 the country is producing more than 60% of the world‘s supply

1799 Gold production begins in the U.S.

1848 Goldrush gets underway in the U.S., with more than 300,000 people moving to California

1900 The U.S. passes the Gold Standard Act

1933 to1937 The Gold Reserve Act of 1934 ends the minting of gold coins and raises the price of gold to$35 per ounce to trade into the treasury (formerly set at $20.67)

1971 President Nixon ends the ability to trade U.S. dollars in for gold

1980 Gold sets a then-record high of $870 per ounce

2001 to2007 China becomes the world‘s largest producer of gold after deregulating its market

2004 The first gold ETF begins trading

2008 to2010 The ―Great Recession‖ in the U.S., and a larger global slowdown, push gold prices over $1,000 for the first time ever