78 Gold Greed and Glory

CHAPTER 1 The Importance of Gold GOLD SHOWS IMPORTANCE. PEOPLE USE IT IN ART AND IN MONEY. THEY USE IT IN RELIGION AND IN JEWELRY. Olympic Gold Constantina Dita from Romania made history at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At 38 years old, she ran over 42 kilometers in two hours, 26 minutes, and 44 seconds. She became the world's oldest Olympic marathon winner. She won a gold medal. Constantina was not alone. Hundreds of athletes win gold medals at sports competitions. Their gold medals show they are the strongest, the fastest, and the best athletes in the world. Gold is rare and special. A gold medal means "I'm number one."

What is gold? Gold is a metal, like silver. Gold, however, is different from most metals because gold does not corrode. Corroding is when the metal is slowly destroyed. Time, air, and water corrode most metals. Compare these two coins. One is ancient silver. It appears dull or dirty. The ancient gold coin shines like new. Gold is heavy. Pure gold weighs 19.3 times more than water. Imagine a ball of gold the size of a basketball. It would weigh 144 kilograms! At 1,064 Celsius, gold melts. Melted gold can be made into many different shapes, and these shapes can be melted again into new shapes. Nothing is lost when gold is melted. Gold can be used over and over again. Much of the gold we have today used to be something else. Perhaps the gold in Constantina's Olympic medal used to be in a king's crown.

Beautiful Gold Gold has many uses. The color and shine of gold make it perfect for art. And gold is soft. You can cut pure gold with a knife. Imagine hitting pure gold with a hammer. The gold becomes thinner, but does not lose its shine. If you continue hitting the gold, it becomes thinner and thinner. Soon, a small piece of gold can become a large, flat sheet like paper. This flat sheet of gold is called gold leaf. Ancient Egyptians were expert gold workers. They often used gold leaf in their art. They liked to put a thin cover of gold on statues and objects. This is called gilding. Many say Ancient Egypt's gilded art is still the best in the world.

Today, gilding with gold is very common. In fact, Olympic gold medals are no longer made of pure gold. They are made of silver! In 1920, they decided to make the medals of silver and then gild them with gold. Because gold is soft, it is perfect for gilding; however, it is bad for jewelry making. Imagine a soft ring! It would change its shape. And a beautiful soft necklace would break! The Ancient Egyptians knew what to do. They mixed the gold with other metals. This made the gold stronger. A mix of metals is called an alloy. Today gold alloys are much more common than pure gold. Almost all modern gold jewelry is an alloy. This makes the jewelry stronger. It also allows a small amount of gold to be used in many different pieces. This makes the jewelry less expensive.

CHAPTER 2 The Dark History of Gold FOR 6,000 YEARS, PEOPLE HAVE COLLECTED AND USED GOLD. MANY PEOPLE HAVE DIED WHILE LOOKING FOR IT, OR TAKING IT FROM OTHERS. Looking for Gold Gold can be very tiny pieces, like a powder, or it can be a small rock called a nugget. It can be found anywhere, but some areas have more gold than others. South Africa, Canada, the United States, Russia, China, Brazil, and Australia all have large amounts of gold. Even today, people find gold in these places. In 2008, a boy in California, USA, went fishing with his father. Instead of fish, he found 170 grams of gold in the lake. It was worth $5,500. He was very lucky. Some people in history, however, were not so lucky. Coronado and the Cities of Gold In 1540, a Spanish explorer named Francisco Våzquez de Coronado was not just looking for a gold nugget in a lake. He was looking for a golden city. Coronado was a conquistador.

Conquistadors were Spanish or Portuguese explorers and soldiers who came to the Americas looking for land, adventure, and gold. Coronado had heard a story about a place called Cibola. The story said Cibola had seven cities made of gold. Excitement for gold made many Europeans come to the Americas. When the conquistadors arrived, they met many native people. The Europeans killed many of them for their gold. Other times, they enslaved the native people and made them dig for the gold. They stole the native people's land and other valuable things. Coronado formed a group of more than 300 soldiers and about 1,000 Indians. Together, they looked for Cibola. Many people died while they were looking, and Coronado's men fought many battles. Of course, Coronado never found a golden city. Instead, he learned Cibola was just an ordinary village.