Does Gold Back the American Dollar?
When the Coinage Act was passed in 1792, the American Dollar was backed by 24.75 grains of gold.
Since the use of gold goes back to a time near the dawn of man, the historical records of gold's original discovery have long ago been lost to modern man.
This loss of detailed information about the discovery of gold in the historical record is not to say that we have no early records of the use of gold. Gold is mentioned in nearly every corner of the worlds history. From the ancient civilizations of Greece, Egypt, Nubia and Rome, gold has been a centerpiece of trade and commerce. Valued for its unusual yellow sheen and malleability, gold has found its way into the craftsman's hands, being formed into jewelry, decorations and eventually coins. Even the biblical record sites many cases where gold and other precious metals were used as decorations or for commerce.
The elemental symbol of gold is AU. The origins of this symbol may provide some hint to the first scientific studies of the gold element as the letters that form the symbol are the first two letters of the Latin word, Aurum, which was used by the Greeks as the word for gold. With a great measure of ancient science coming from the Greeks, it is not a far reach to assume that they may have been the first individuals to think of gold in elemental terms.
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