Gold size

“ The isinglass size, before described, is used in precisely the same way as the water in water gilding, and the gold laid on the flowing size so as to stretch itself out as the size recedes. The size must be used freely and allowed to run off quickly. It must not be strong, the weaker it is the brighter will the finish of the gold be. The less size there is remaining between the glass and the gold and between the two coats of gold, the better polish can be obtained. ”

“ Sometimes it is ’bedded in quartz when the ore, as it is called, has to be mined and then crushed in a stamp mill to get the gold out; more often it is found as free gold, dust and grains and bits of pure gold mixed with the dirt when it must be panned, that is, put in a pan and the dirt washed away and then the gold, which is the heaviest, falls to the bottom of the pan, and again,” he lowered his voice to make what he was about to tell them more impressive, “nuggets of gold are picked up from bits the size of a pea to chunks as large as my fist! ”

“ Gold differs in its mode of occurrence from other metals in many respects; but there is no doubt that it was once held in aqueous solution and deposited in its metallic form by electro-chemical action. It is true we do not find oxides, carbonates, or bromides of gold in Nature, nor can we feel quite sure that gold now exists naturally as a sulphide, chloride, or silicate, though the presumption is strongly that it does. If so, the deposition of the gold may be ceaselessly progressing.
Generally reef gold is finer as to size of the particles, and, as a rule, inferior in quality to alluvial. ”

“ Much disappointment and loss of time and money would often be prevented if prospectors would realise that all alluvial gold does not come from the quartz veins or reefs; and that following up an alluvial lead, no matter how rich, will not inevitably develop a payable gold lode. Sometimes gold, evidently of reef origin, is found in the alluvial; but in that case it is generally fine as regards the size of the particles, more or less sharp-edged, or crystalline in form if recently shed ”

“ The ordinary non-scientific digger will do well to give credence to this view of the case, and will often thereby save himself much useless trouble. Sometimes also the alluvial gold, coarser in size than true reef-born alluvial, is derived almost in situ from small quartz "leaders," or veins, which the grinding down of the face of the slates has exposed; these leaders in time being also broken and worn, set free the gold they have contained, which does not, as a rule, travel far, but sometimes becomes water-worn by the rubbing over it of the disintegrated fragments of rock. ”

“ For instance, “mullocky” lode stuff, containing much clayey matter or material carrying a large percentage of heavy metal, such as titanic iron or metallic sulphides, will need a larger quantity of water per stamp than clean quartz. A fair average quantity would be 750 to 1000 [79] gallons per hour for each box of five stamps. In general practice I have seldom found 1000 gallons per hour more than sufficient.
As to the most effective mesh for the screen or grating, that depends largely on the size of the gold particles contained in the gangue. ”

“ The truer view seems to be that these rings, whether employed by the ancient Egyptians or the prehistoric inhabitants of Mycenae, the Kelts or Teutons, were nothing more than ornaments and passed in the ordinary way of barter, having a recognized distinct relation to other forms of property, such as cattle and slaves. It has been the custom in all countries for the person who desires to have an article of jewellery made to give to the goldsmith a certain weight of gold or silver, out of which the latter manufactures the desired ornament. ”

“ It is in no way necessary, on account of any intrinsic or inherent quality of gold, that should have that particular metal, and that alone, for money.
It is boasted that gold is a universal measure. Why is it universal? Why is gold accepted in every country of the world? ”

“ We have seen the Siamese piece of twisted silver wire passing into a coin of European style, and we shall find that the Chinese bronze knife has finally ended by becoming a cash, just as we have already found the Homeric talent of gold appearing, in weight at least, as the gold stater of historical times. ”

“ This eats away the alloy and leaves only the gold.
Gold is a wonderful metal. It is of beautiful color; it can be hammered so thin that the light will shine through it; few acids affect it, and the oxygen which eats away iron does not harm it. Pure gold is spoken of as being "twenty-four carats fine," from carat, an old weight equal to one twenty-fourth of an [Pg 47] ounce troy. Watchcases are from eight to eighteen carats fine; chains are seldom more than fourteen; and the gold coins of the United States are about eleven parts of gold and one of copper. ”

“ Pure gold is value for a halfpenny less than four pounds five shillings an ounce Troy. I will sell you pure gold, none of your childish mystery gold with its copper, and silver, and platinum clumsiness that will not stand the fire, but pure gold that will defy any test wet or dry, or cupel, for four pounds the ounce. Come, will you buy my Miracle Gold at four pounds the ounce Troy? ”

“ From those figures it is plain that no continuous, extraordinary yield of silver, such as might warrant the slightest fear of an unnecessary addition to the money volume, is to be expected. On the other hand the continuous drain of gold for use in the arts, as dentistry, gold plate, jewelry, gilding, and articles of decoration generally, is seriously encroaching upon the annual supply. ”

“ The weighing of gold is already in vogue, but the highest unit known is the small talent, the value of an ox, weighing 130-5 grs, or 10-15 grs more than a sovereign. Silver is not yet estimated by weight, although large and handsome vessels of that metal are described and have their value appraised. But it is not by their weight that their value is estimated, but by their capacity. ”

“ It is observable that a gold coin, sometimes called a mancus, in other cases known by other names, circulated during the middle ages in many countries both of Europe and the East, the weight of which was 56 grains troy, which would be just about the weight of gold equivalent to thirty Saxon pennies, on the supposition, which other considerations render probable, that the relative value of gold and silver was then as twelve to one. ”

“ Whenever, therefore, we are enabled to trace [Pg 209] the supply of gold to a foreign, as, for example, to a Phœnician source, we can hardly fail to find accompanying relics of silver; and accordingly, in the succeeding, or Iron Period, the gold becomes of rare occurrence, and the silver abundant. One other argument should not be altogether overlooked. The great purity of very many of the gold ornaments found in the tumuli is such as may perhaps add to the probability of its native origin. ”

“ The pale color and low quality of various bars of gold are always imputed to the silver, platina, or other metal contained in them. I have seen some as low as sixteen carats, and others as fine as 23-1/2 carats, which is within half a carat of what is denominated pure gold. Twenty-two is the standard, and gold exceeding that receives a premium according to its fineness. ”

“ If this can be proved, and if furthermore it can be proved that before silver or copper or iron were yet weighed, gold has been weighed by that standard, which we find universal in later times, we have still more closely narrowed down our argument and put it beyond all reasonable doubt that weighing was first invented for traffic in gold, and since the weight-unit of gold is found [115] regularly to be the value of a cow or ox, the conclusion must follow that the unit of weight is ultimately derived from the value in gold of a cow. ”

“ Furthermore, it was believed that gold possessed the property of changing its bulk under certain conditions, some of the more conservative alchemists maintaining that gold was only increased in bulk, not necessarily created, by certain forms of the magic stone. Thus a very proficient operator was thought to be able to increase a grain of gold into a pound of pure metal, while one less expert could only double, or possibly treble, its original weight. ”

“ The term standard, as applied to coins, means strictly the conditions of fineness and weight to which they are required by law to conform. Thus, in the United States, the gold coins must be made of metal consisting of ^ftfc P ure g^ and T^Pfe alloy; in other words, they must be T 9 fine. This is the standard fineness, and gold of this quality is called standard gold. The weight of such gold required by law in each gold coin is its standard weight. ”

“ QUANTITY OF GOLD AND SILVER.
"Before demonetization both metals constituted the redemption money of the world; and as both metals existed in about the same quantities, it gave us twice as much money of redemption as gold alone will now furnish us. There is in the world now, according to the report of the director of our mint, $3,727,018,869 in gold, and $3,820,571,346 in silver. ”

“ This great weight is a ready means of discovering counterfeit gold coin from genuine; for as gold must be adulterated with something much lighter than itself, a false coin, if of the same weight with the true, will be sensibly bigger. Gold, too, is the most ductile of all metals. You have seen gold-leaf? ”

“ The metal gold, on the contrary, tried by the same supreme test, shows itself to be in no sense a "standard" of value, for it jumps about like the mercury in a barometer with every movement of the commercial atmosphere, its vibrations—to speak within the fact—having dodged about, up and down, as much as 20 per cent, down from a given point and then back to that point, and then 20 per cent, up from that same point, all within the short space of 40 or 50 years! ”

“ But it has added very largely to the use of gold for plate, watches, jewelry, and the like. This greatly increased consumption of gold for ornamental purposes in England and America, and the increased flow of gold to Asia, to be there devoted to the same uses, account for the fact – which to many persons seems unaccountable – that the great amounts of gold taken from the mines have added so little to the amount in circulation as money. ”

“ If he is accurate in the proportionate values which he respectively assigns to these metals, it proves the very great abundance of gold; since, in most of the nations of antiquity, the values of gold and silver were the reverse of what they were in Arabia, gold being ten times the value of silver. ”

“ The principal value of gold is as a medium of exchange, and its high appreciation is due, first, to the fact that it is in almost universal request; and, secondly, to its comparative scarcity; yet, oddly enough, with the exception of that humble but serviceable metal iron, gold is the most widely distributed metal known. ”

“ The pretence set up for this extraordinary degradation of the gold, was, that our coin might peradventure be exported, in order to be de-silvered abroad, a danger which could have been most readily averted, by leaving out as much gold in every sovereign as was equivalent to the silver introduced, and thus preserving its intrinsic value in precious metal. When the film of fine gold which covers each of our present pieces has been rubbed off from the prominent parts, these must appear of a very different and deeper colour than the flat part or ground of the coin. ”

“ GOLD AND GOLD-MINING Gold derives its value partly from its purchasing power, partly from those properties which make it serviceable in the arts, and partly from its beauty. The high esteem in which gold money is held is as much the result of its comparative rarity as of its physical properties. Among nearly all the nations of the world it has been agreed upon as a standard of exchange. Gold has one disadvantage as a medium of exchange; it is rather too soft to wear well. But this difficulty is overcome by alloying the gold with another mineral of nearly the same color,—copper, for instance. ”

“ Barnes said, as though Clocker had spoken.
Clocker would have turned red if he had been able to. As it was, he felt dismay and embarrassment.
"Do you realize the size and value of this project?" Barnes went on. "We have a more detailed record of human society than Man himself ever had! There will be not even the most insignificant corner of your civilization left unrecorded! Your life, my life—the life of this Zelda whom you came here to rescue—all are trivial, for we must die eventually, but the project will last eternally!" ”

“ But when we find that a gold ornament has been found in a dwelling of neolithic age, we have a positive proof not simply of the knowledge, but probably of the skill requisite to manufacture the metal. If any upholder of the negative method urges that gold has been found very sparingly in these lacustrine dwellings, let him remember that the existence of one single object of gold in these remains is sufficient to demolish all his argument. ”

“ The total product of gold in the United States from 1792 up to 1896 was $2,113,034,769, and of silver $1,444,970,000, making a grand total of the precious metals of $3,558,004,769. The total value of the entire world’s production of gold, between the years 1493 and 1896, was $8,983,320,600, and of silver $10,556,700,800, making a grand total of gold and silver of $19,540,021,400. ”