Frequently Asked Questions

A Solid Gold Winner

The World Cup Trophy is 32cm high and is made of solid 18-carat gold.

The Most Expensive Gold Coin in the World

One of the world's rarest and most sought after collector coins, the 1933 Double Eagle, was sold at Sotheby's auction house in New York on Tuesday 30th July 2002 for the record sum of $7.59 million.

The coin, featuring a standing Liberty on one side and an eagle on the other, was minted in 1933 at the height of the Depression but never circulated as President Roosevelt abandoned the Gold Standard. All 445,500 coins, each with a face value of $20, were put into storage and ordered to be melted down in 1937, but it was not until the 1940s that it was discovered ten coins had not been returned. Nine were subsequently recovered but one coin got away and ended up in the collection of King Farouk of Egypt. It disappeared again in the mid 1950s and resurfaced in 1996 when a UK coin dealer attempted to sell it to undercover Secret Service agents in New York.

After protracted legal wrangling it was agreed that the coin be sold at auction with the proceeds split between the dealer and the US Mint's enterprise fund.

Gold Doors to a Bank in Oman

There is a bank in Oman which has gold doors. The gilding of doors goes back to ancient times when fire gilding and later mercury gilding techniques were used on alloys containing gold to produce a gold-rich surface layer. The famous Corinthian Bronze of the Roman Empire is an example of this used in the great gate of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem.

Recycling of Gold

Gold has always been recycled because of its inherent high value, ever since it was first discovered before the Bronze age. Thus your modern jewellery or dental crown may contain some gold that was mined in prehistoric times and formed part of a valued gold artefact or jewellery belonging to royalty or other high placed official in ancient civilisations. Today, at least 15% of annual gold consumption is recycled each year.