Dhanteras 2023: 10 facts about gold, how many do you know about?

CNBC TV18

By Priyanka Deshpande

Published Oct 12, 2023

Dhanteras on November 10 marks the beginning of the grand Diwali festivities this year. It is a tradition to buy gold and silver ornaments or metal utensils on this day. Ahead of Dhanteras, take a look at some interesting facts about gold you probably didn’t know:

If all of the existing gold in the world was pulled into a 5 micron thick wire, it could wrap around the world 11.2 million times.

1

The boiling point of gold is 2808 degrees centigrade and it melts at 1064 degrees centigrade.

2

Gold’s conductivity of heat means that it rapidly reaches body temperature which makes it comfortable to wear. It is one of the reasons gold has become valued for jewellery.

3

It is rarer to find a one ounce nugget of gold than a five carat diamond.

4

Around 187,200 tonnes of gold has been mined since the beginning of civilization.

5

All of the gold ever mined would fit into a crate of 21 metre cube.

6

Around half of all gold mined today is made into jewellery, which remains the single largest use for gold.

7

Julius Caesar gave 200 gold coins to each of his soldiers from the spoils of war in defeating Gaul.

8

Weighing one tonne and measuring 80 cm in diameter, the largest gold coin ever created was cast by the Perth Mint in 2012.

9

One ounce of gold can be stretched to a length of 50 miles; the resulting wire would be just five microns wide.

10

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