Gold is a rare metal with a long history, one factor that gives it such a long history is Alluvial gold was quite common and appeared regularly in most streams and rivers. Gold has always been sought after ever since its discovery but its not just its rarity that give it its value, gold has many other desirable properties that give it its value. Many of these values were not discovered till well after gold entered mainstream use. one value that has been known about gold since its discovery is its intrinsic value to last forever and not perish or tarnish. The price of gold is largely supported by the high demand for it in th e modern age, There are many other metals rarer than gold with a similar price because they have a much lower demand because they may only have one or two uses, unlike the many uses that gold has.
Ancient civilization has always had a fascination with gold, it was often worship as a gift from the gods and civilizations such as the incas referred to it as "tears from the sun" though gold at this time was still only used for jewelry and decorations. When gold was first discovered thousands of years ago it would have been found as alluvial gold in streams and rivers all over the world. Because of this easy to find state of alluvial gold it would have been one of the first metals early humans had come into contact with that on top of its unique colour means people would have been easily drawn to it. Gold was seen as a symbol of immortality and permanence because of its colour being similar to the sun and its ability to not tarnish over time. Gold as a currency has been dated as far back as 2500 years ago with the first minted coins dating back to 600-700 B.C these coins were not pure gold though when the lydian merchants first produced coins it was a mixture of 63% gold and 27% silver although other forms of currency had been used made from different metals this was the first example of gold being used.