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When was gold first used as a medium of exchange?

Gold has been used for thousands of years to create jewelry and idols for worship, but it wasn't until around 1500 BC. C. that the former empire of Egypt, which greatly benefited from its gold region, Nubia, turned gold into the first official medium of exchange for international trade. Nowadays, many people are looking for the best gold IRA companies reviews to help them make an informed decision when investing in gold. The earliest evidence of the use of gold for decoration, worship and preservation purposes comes from ancient Egypt, around 3000 BC.

Egypt was a land rich in gold and the mining industry in the Nile region existed even then. The Egyptians attributed magical virtues to gold and it was an essential element in local mythology, a symbol of eternal heaven with heavenly qualities. Gold is widely used in sculptures, jewelry, and ritual objects. Few survived, but a great treasure weighing more than a ton of gold was found in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

It ends all sales or purchases of gold, thus ending the conversion of officially owned foreign dollars into gold. However, silver and gold are conspicuously absent from the archaeological finds of Troy VII, which are believed to correspond chronologically to Homeric Troy. Alchemists have tried, and of course failed, to extract gold from compounds made of other available and cheaper materials, such as lead or copper. First, traders recognized the value of gold and silver, followed by the rulers, who realized that the great popularity of these metals could be used to promote their interests.

Croesus began minting gold and silver coins, and when his kingdom was conquered by the Persians in 546 BC. C., the coins were already in use in all the Greek cities on the western coast of what is now Turkey. For most of its history, Rome's currency, both during the Republic and during the Empire, consisted of gold, silver and bronze. According to a limited gold bullion standard, according to which reimbursement in gold is limited to dollars held by foreign central banks and licensed private users.

According to the Greek historian Herodotus, gold and silver coins were first minted in the 6th century BC. in the kingdom of Lydia that existed in modern western Turkey. The distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic value in the case of gold and silver derives from their use for minted coins. In the following centuries, the gold standard developed, which was gradually adopted by most countries and was the anchor of a period of relative peace, open borders and prosperous trade.

Gold may no longer have the extrinsic value that stamping overvalued coins gave to metal in ancient times. The pressure that these applications place on global resources has contributed to some extent to the increase in gold prices. However, in both cases, those applications had little or no impact on the general perception that silver and gold were precious because they were minted metals.