GOLD THROUGH THE AGES
The history of gold begins in remote antiquity. But without hard archaeological evidence to pinpoint the time and place of man's first happy encounter with the yellow metal, we can only conjecture about those persons, who at various places and at different times first came upon native gold. Experts of fossil study have observed that bits of natural gold were found in Spanish caves used by the Paleolithic Man about 40,000 B.C. Consequently, it is not surprising that historical sources cannot agree on the precise date that gold was first used. One states that gold's recorded discovery occurred circa 6000 B.C. Another mentions that the pharaohs and temple priests used the relic metal for adornment in ancient Egypt circa 3000 B.C. However, it is curious to note that the early Egyptian's medium of exchange was not gold but barley. The first use of gold as money in 700 B.C. is claimed by the citizens of the Kingdom of Lydia (western Turkey). Surely, you remember the kingdom of the famous fortune seeking King Croesus - circa 550 B.C.
MORE RECENT HISTORY OF GOLD
Virgil, the famous Roman poet of antiquity, aptly
described man's undying lust for gold when he wrote:
"Auri Sacra Fames" (The cursed thirst for gold!)
In 1792 the U.S. Congress adopted a bimetallic standard (gold and silver) for the new nation's currency - with gold valued at $19.30 per troy ounce. This remained essentially unchanged until 1834, when the price of gold was raised to the $20.67 level which held for the next 100 years. It was not until 1934 that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt devalued the dollar by raising the price of gold to $35 per ounce.
Relative to today's world economic conditions, it is imperative to remember that F.D.R.'s stated purpose for dramatically increasing the value of gold was to boost commodity prices (especially farm products) and create more employment for the millions who were suffering the devastating effects of the Great Depression.
In December 1971 representatives of the ten most industrialized nations met in Washington D.C. It was their express purpose to take whatever measures in order to improve international economic conditions. The now famous Smithsonian Agreement accorded an immediate hike in the value of gold from $35 to $38 per ounce. President Richard Nixon hailed it as "the most significant monetary agreement in the history of the world." Unfortunately, it resulted in a measure too little and too late. International economic conditions continued to deteriorate, forcing the U.S. Government in 1973 to devalue the dollar a second time by raising the official price of gold to $42.22 per ounce. Finally, all international currencies were allowed to "float" freely against gold. By June of that year the London Gold Fixing had risen to an unprecedented $120 per ounce. Exploding demand during the following months set the stage for the creation of gold futures trading on the COMEX in January 1975.
A worldwide feeding frenzy for gold cannonballed its price to an all-time high of $850 per ounce on January 21, 1980. Obviously, speculative excess had carried too far. Since that date the price of gold has been in a downtrend for more than 13 years. Naturally, there have been periods of respite, when prices rebounded slightly. However, on balance the long-term bear market remained intact until April 23, 1993. On that date the June 1993 COMEX Gold futures contract closed at $347.50 - which, in our opinion, heralded a reversal of the 13 year downtrend, and thus the return of Virgil's echo: "Auri Sacra Fames
ทองตามยุคสมัยประวัติของทองเริ่มความไกล แต่ไม่ มีหลักฐานทางโบราณคดียากเพื่อระบุเวลาและสถานที่ของคนแรกความสุขพบกับโลหะสีเหลือง เราสามารถคาดคะเนเกี่ยวกับบุคคล เฉพาะ ในสถานต่าง ๆ และเวลาที่แตกต่างกันก่อนมาตามพื้นเมืองทอง ผู้เชี่ยวชาญการศึกษาฟอสซิลได้สังเกตว่า บิตของทองธรรมชาติพบในถ้ำภาษาสเปนที่ใช้ โดยคน Paleolithic ประมาณ 40000 บี ดังนั้น มันจะไม่น่าแปลกใจว่า แหล่งประวัติศาสตร์ไม่ยอมรับในวันชัดเจนว่า ทองถูกใช้เป็นครั้งแรก หนึ่งรัฐเกิดการค้นพบบันทึกของทองที่เซอร์กาบี 6000 อื่นกล่าวถึงว่า ฟาโรห์และพระสงฆ์วัดใช้พระธาตุโลหะสำหรับเครื่องประดับในอียิปต์โบราณเซอร์กาบี 3000 อย่างไรก็ตาม ก็อยากรู้อยากเห็นเพื่อทราบของอียิปต์ช่วงกลางแลกเงินไม่ใช่ทองแต่ข้าวบาร์เลย์ ครั้งแรกที่ใช้ทองคำเป็นเงินตราใน 700 บีอ้าง โดยประชาชนของในราชอาณาจักรของ Lydia (ตุรกีตะวันตก) แน่นอน คุณจำอาณาจักรโชคลาภมีชื่อเสียงหาคิง Croesus - เซอร์กาบี 550วิทยาทองล่าสุดเวอร์จิล กวีโรมันมีชื่อเสียงของ aptlyอธิบายผู้ชายหื่นอมตะสำหรับทองเมื่อเขาเขียน: "Auri Sacra Fames" (สาปกระหายทอง) In 1792 the U.S. Congress adopted a bimetallic standard (gold and silver) for the new nation's currency - with gold valued at $19.30 per troy ounce. This remained essentially unchanged until 1834, when the price of gold was raised to the $20.67 level which held for the next 100 years. It was not until 1934 that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt devalued the dollar by raising the price of gold to $35 per ounce.Relative to today's world economic conditions, it is imperative to remember that F.D.R.'s stated purpose for dramatically increasing the value of gold was to boost commodity prices (especially farm products) and create more employment for the millions who were suffering the devastating effects of the Great Depression.In December 1971 representatives of the ten most industrialized nations met in Washington D.C. It was their express purpose to take whatever measures in order to improve international economic conditions. The now famous Smithsonian Agreement accorded an immediate hike in the value of gold from $35 to $38 per ounce. President Richard Nixon hailed it as "the most significant monetary agreement in the history of the world." Unfortunately, it resulted in a measure too little and too late. International economic conditions continued to deteriorate, forcing the U.S. Government in 1973 to devalue the dollar a second time by raising the official price of gold to $42.22 per ounce. Finally, all international currencies were allowed to "float" freely against gold. By June of that year the London Gold Fixing had risen to an unprecedented $120 per ounce. Exploding demand during the following months set the stage for the creation of gold futures trading on the COMEX in January 1975.A worldwide feeding frenzy for gold cannonballed its price to an all-time high of $850 per ounce on January 21, 1980. Obviously, speculative excess had carried too far. Since that date the price of gold has been in a downtrend for more than 13 years. Naturally, there have been periods of respite, when prices rebounded slightly. However, on balance the long-term bear market remained intact until April 23, 1993. On that date the June 1993 COMEX Gold futures contract closed at $347.50 - which, in our opinion, heralded a reversal of the 13 year downtrend, and thus the return of Virgil's echo: "Auri Sacra Fames
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