Dear LPG, 

We all talk about it when we want to impress, and I read on the internet that Egyptian writings dating back as far as 3000 BC record the fact. It’s shiny, fairly heavy as items go, not easy to find, and one of the few metals that does not rust or deteriorate for a very long time.

You might ask what got me, a relatively poor old lady, thinking about this rich man’s commodity (and let me assure you, I am not planning to rob a bank!). I was watching one of those programmes on television where ordinary people take their treasured possessions to be valued, and it struck me that this particular precious metal features in so many of the items on offer.

As we get older it may happen less often, but when we are invited to a big night out, even the gentlemen often bring out their best watches, while we ladies go to town with our finest necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.

I don’t think much has changed during our lifetimes. When we hear news of an engagement, the first thing we want to see is the ring. If it’s a televised celebrity announcement, the stone may be worth more than the band that holds it in place, but the cost of the piece is often documented alongside its picture—and that’s the second thing many people want to know after seeing what it looks like.

Nearly all of us have a few handed-down items that we keep more for the memories than their value. Yet when we want to pass them on, many end up in a pawn shop or on one of those television programmes I mentioned earlier.

I will agree that it is beautiful to look at, but its uses are limited. As the years go by, we grow more worried about wearing gold items in case they are stolen. I am not an avid film watcher, but in so many movies where theft and robbery are part of the plot, gold is the object of the villains’ desire. There is always that scene where the baddies transfer gold bars from the bank vault or security van to their getaway vehicle before the inevitable car chase. Few readers of our age will forget the gold-filled van balancing over the edge of a cliff at the end of the original film The Italian Job. The newer version even has a scene where it all happens underwater.

All these thoughts got me wondering why we value it so highly in the Western world, when for the most part the only thing it really does is look pretty.

Over the years Queen Elizabeth I had her “golden age.” Many of us pensioners will remember receiving a “golden handshake” on our last working day. Sportspeople and Olympians still strive for their gold medals. Musicians don’t feel they’ve made it until they earn a gold disc. Confidence tricksters are often “gold diggers” in disguise. And you might recall that old TV programme The Beverly Hillbillies, about a family who became rich because of the oil found on their ranch—or “Black Gold,” as it was described in the theme song. And of course, we all know that the Bank of England and Fort Knox are places where countless bars of the stuff are stored.

I must be honest: costume jewellery is pretty enough for me. The internet tells me there are now a couple of other precious metals—Rhodium and Palladium—considered more valuable than gold. I also discovered that quite a few other metals are used in jewellery making. But even if you were interested in investing in really expensive, relatively small wearables, would you truly be impressed if either of those two metals were mentioned in the making of a ring or necklace—before you read my bit of research?

PY, New Cross.

PY offers us some interesting internet facts and thoughts…

(►►►)   (►►►)   

(►►►)     (►►►)    (►►►)    (►►►)   

… and LPG found a few clips from the films she mentioned…

(►►►)   (►►►)     (►►►)