Gold metal

Gold is a chemical element with symbol Au and atomic number 79. In its purest form, it is a bright, slightly reddish yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal. Gold often occurs in free elemental form, as nuggets or grains, in rocks in veins and in alluvial deposits. It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver and also naturally alloyed with copper and palladium.

those who had something of gold were in possession of something of great value on Earth and a substance to even help souls to paradise.

Wedding rings have long been made of gold. It is long lasting and unaffected by the passage of time and may aid in the ring symbolism of eternal vows before God and the perfection the marriage signifies. In Orthodox Christian wedding ceremonies, the wedded couple is adorned with a golden crown during the ceremony, an amalgamation of symbolic rites.

In popular culture gold has many connotations but is most generally connected to terms such as good or great, such as in the phrases has a heart of gold that's golden golden moment then you're golden. It remains a cultural symbol of wealth and through that, in many societies, success.

Gold's atomic number of 79 makes it one of the higher numbered, naturally occurring elements. It is thought to have been produced in supernova photosynthesis from the collision of neutron stars and to have been present in the dust from which the Solar System formed. Because the Earth was molten when it was formed almost all of the gold present in the early Earth probably sank into the planetary core. Therefore, most of the gold that is present today in the Earth's crust and mantle is thought to have been delivered to Earth later, by asteroid impacts during the Late Heavy Bombardment about 4 billion years ago.

Gold is resistant to most acids, though it does dissolve in aqua regain, a mixture of nitro acid and hydroelectric acid, Gold is insoluble in nitrite acid which dissolves silver and base metals, a property that has long been used to refine gold and to confirm the presence of gold in metallic objects, giving rise to the term acid test. Gold also dissolves in alkaline solutions of cyanide which are used in mining and electroplating. Gold dissolves in mercury, forming amalgam alloys, but this is not a chemical reaction.

Gold is the most malleable of all metals; a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of 1 square meter, and an avoirdupois ounce into 300 square feet. Gold leaf can be beaten thin enough to become semi-transparent. The transmitted light appears greenish blue, because gold strongly reflects yellow and red. Such semi-transparent sheets also strongly reflect infrared light making them useful as infrared shields in visors of heat-resistant suits, and in sun-visors for spacesuits. Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity. Gold has only one stable isotope

Many holders of gold store it in form of bullion coins or bars as a hedge against inflation or other economic disruptions. Modern bullion coins for investment or collector purposes do not require good mechanical wear properties; they are typically fine gold at 24k, although the American Gold Eagle and the British gold sovereign continue to be minted in 22k (0.92) metal in historical tradition, and the South African Kruger and, first released in 1967, is also 22k.

The special issue Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin contains the highest purity gold of any bullion coin while the popular issue Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin has a purity. In 2006, the United States Mint began producing the American Buffalo gold bullion coin with purity. The Australian Gold Kangaroos were first coined in 1986 as the Australian Gold Nugget but changed the reverse design in 1989. Other modern coins include the Austrian Vienna Philharmonic bullion coin and the Chinese Gold Panda.

Metallic and gold compounds have long been used for medicinal purposes. Gold usually as the metal is perhaps the most anciently administered medicine and known to Discords.  In medieval times, gold was often seen as beneficial for the health, in the belief that something so rare and beautiful could not be anything but healthy. Even some modern esoteric-isms and forms of alternative medicine assign metallic gold a healing power.

In the 19th century gold had a reputation as a "nerving," a therapy for nervous disorders. Depression epilepsy migraine and glandular problems such as gonorrhea and impotence were treated, and most notably alcoholism.

The apparent paradox of the actual toxicology of the substance suggests the possibility of serious gaps in the understanding of the action of gold in physiology. Only salts and radioisotopes of gold are of pharmacological value, since elemental metallic gold is inert to all chemicals it encounters inside the body. Some gold salts do have anti-inflammatory properties and at present two are still used as pharmaceuticals in the treatment of arthritis and other similar conditions in the US. These drugs have been explored as a means to help to reduce the pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis and also historically against tuberculosis and some parasites.