Numbers and facts

Some of the more extraordinary statistics which gold has accumulated across the centuries and around the world.

The atomic number of gold, which means there are 79 protons in the nucleus of every atom of gold.

The 40,000 miners who joined the California Gold Rush in 1849 were called 49ers. Only a very few ever got rich.

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

Million - the number of times that all of the existing gold in the world, turned into 5 micron wire, could wrap around the planet.

One ounce of pure gold could be hammered into a single sheet nine metres square.


Gold melts at 1064 degrees centigrade.

...And only boils at 2808 degrees centigrade.

This is the total number of tonnes of gold mined since the beginning of civilisation.

... all of which would fit into a crate of 20 metres cubed.

Over 90 percent of the worlds gold has been mined since the California Gold Rush.

million people worldwide depend on gold mining for their livelihood.


The number of grams in a troy ounce of gold.

The number of troy ounces in a London Good Delivery Bar.

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

Fort Knox holds 4,600 tonnes of gold.

And the US Federal Reserve holds 6,200.

The temperature of the human body is 37 degrees centigrade. Because of golds unique conductivity, gold jewellery rapidly matches your bodys heat, becoming part of you.

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

The percentage of gold mined today that becomes jewellery.

The % increase in the price of gold from Dec 2000 to October 2010.

The number of parts per thousand of pure gold in 18 carat gold.

In 95 BC, Chinese Emperor Hsiao Wu I minted gold commemorative piece to celebrate the sighting of a unicorn.

The largest gold coin ever minted, a 2007 Canadian $1,000,000 Maple Leaf is 53cm in diameter.


Howard Carter made his famous tiny breach of the top left hand corner of the doorway to reveal the first glimpse of Tutankhamuns tomb on 26 November 1922.

Even at only 10 parts of gold per quadrillion, the worlds oceans are estimated to hold up to 15,000 tonnes of gold.

The largest ever true gold nugget weighted 2316 troy ounces when found at Moliagul in Australia in 1869. It was called the Welcome Stranger.

In November 2010, the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) fund, a World Gold Council sponsored exchange traded fund, held over $55 billion assets under management.

World Gold Council members collectively represent around 60% of all corporate mining activity.

The number of times gold has reached a new high in 2010.