the knowledge that it is extremely unlikely that their gold will ever be destroyed.
An article in the National Geographic magazine from January 2009 said that: “Gold is not vital to human existence; it has, in fact, relatively few practical uses. Yet its chief virtues—its unusual density and malleability along with its imperishable shine—have made it one of the world’s most coveted commodities, a transcendent symbol of beauty, wealth, and immortality.” Although the physical properties and rarity of gold contribute significantly to the value bestowed upon the precious metal, there is one other extremely important characteristic of gold that makes it so attractive, and that characteristic is beauty. As the National Geographic article says, gold has an imperishable shine as well as a lovely lustre and beautiful gold glow that seems to make most human beings weak at the knees. The website gold.org sums up the attractiveness has this to say about the attractiveness of gold: “Since the beginning of time, the intrinsic beauty, warmth, sensuality and spiritual richness of gold has earned it pride of place as the favourite metal of jewellers. Gold has inspired craftsmen to create objects of desire that unite us with our emotions. In the Middle Ages, alchemists attempted to use their magic to make gold from other metals. They believed that gold was a source of immortality, and so it was used in medicines designed to fight old age and prolong life.”
What does all this have to do with art I hear you ask? Stay tuned for part 2 !!!
**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications
