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GOLD
Production and uses of gold
Production
Table I. Value ratio of gold to silver through the ages (1)
| Year | Value ratio | Remarks, authority, etc. (2) |
| Before 3500 B.C. | 1 or less | No records |
| 3500 B.C. | 2.5 | In Egypt. Code of Menes |
| 708 B.C. | 13.5 | In Assyria. Cuneiform inscriptions at Nineveh |
| 500 B.C. | 13.0 | In Persia. Herod III |
| 400 B.C. | 12.0 | In Greece. Plato |
| 404-336 B.C. | 12.0 | In Greece, Peloponnesian war to time of Alexander |
| 300 B.C. | 10.0 | In Greece. Fall in gold value due to influx of Alexander's spoil |
| 207 B.C. | 13.7 | In Rome |
| 186 B.C. | 10.0 | In Rome |
| 58-49 B.C. | 8.9 | In Rome. Fall in gold value due to influx of Caesar's spoil |
| 1-37 A.D. | 10.9 | In Rome. Reigns of Augustus and Tiberius |
| 54-68 | 11.8 | In Rome. Reign of Nero |
| 81-96 | 11.3 | In Rome. Reign of Domitian |
| 312 | 14.4 | In Byzantium. Reign of Constantine |
| 438 | 14.4 | In Rome and Byzantium. Theodosian code |
| 864 | 12.0 | In Europe. Edictum Pistense |
| 1344-1482 | 11.1 | In England. Mint returns |
| 1482-1492 | 12.2 | In Europe |
| 1492 | 11.0 | In Europe. Discovery of America |
| 1497 | 10.1 | In Spain |
| 1550 | 12.0 | In Europe |
| 1641 | 14.0 | In Europe. Moran and John Locke on money |
| 1690 | 16.0 | In Europe. Sir Isaac Newton |
| 1730 | 16.0 | In Europe. Kelly's "Cambist" |
| 1760 | 14.3 | In London. Del Mar |
| 1800 | 15.7 | In Europe & USA EMJ. |
| 1850 | 15.7 | In Europe & USA EMJ. |
| 1886 | 22.0 | In Europe & USA Discovery of the Rand |
| 1890 | 22.1 | In Europe & USA EMJ. |
| 1900 | 34.4 | In Europe & USA EMJ. |
| 1910 | 38.2 | In Europe & USA EMJ. |
| 1915 | 38.2 | In Europe & USA 1st Great War, EMJ. |
| 1920 | 20.8 | In Europe & USA EMJ |
| 1930 | 60.8 | In Europe & USA EMJ |
| 1935 | 45.5 | In Europe & USA EMJ |
| 1940 | 50.0 | In Europe & USA 2nd Great War, EMJ |
| 1950 | 41.2 | In Europe & USA EMJ |
| 1960 | 38.5 | In Europe & USA EMJ |
| 1970 | 21.1 | In Europe & USA EMJ |
| 1975 | 41.9 | In Europe & USA EMJ |
| 2006 | 60 | In Europe & USA Press |
(1) The figures given are calculated value ratios in the currency of the time and all should be read as follows: 2.5 indicates that at the stated time gold was two and one-half times the value of silver; 12 that it was twelve times, and so on.
(2) Sources of information include various documents in the British Museum and British Library, London; National Museum, Athens, Greece; Vatican Library, Rome; Jacob (1831), and Del Mar (1880). The values since 1800 were obtained mainly from the Engineering and Mining Journal (EMJ) annual volumes. No attempt was made to authenticate all of the values shown, and no adjustments have been made to compensate for differences between the various currencies of different countries. For a thorough discussion of the value ratios prior to 1880 see Del Mar (1880).
Gold in: Primitive Classic Medieval Renaissance post-Renaissance period.
Gold: Deposits Transport 1 2 3 4 5 6 Production 1 2 3 4 5
Rafal Swiecki, geological engineer email contact
February, 2008
