Unknown Facts About Gold

1. The world's largest gold bar weighs 250 kg (551 lb).

2. Our bodies contain about 0.2 milligrams of gold, most of it in our blood.

3. Nearly all of the gold on Earth came from meteorites that bombarded the planet over 200 million years after it formed.

4. Carat weight can be 10, 12, 14, 18, 22, or 24. The higher the number, the greater the purity.

5. The world's oceans contain nearly 20 million tons of gold.

6. There is enough gold in Earth's core to coat its entire surface to a depth of 1.5 feet.

7. Indian housewives hold 11% of the World's Gold. That is more than the reserves of the U.S., IMF, Switzerland and Germany put together.

8. NASA estimates that the near-Earth asteroid, Eros, contains 20 billion tons of gold.

9. Olympic gold medals were pure gold until 1912.

10. The world's most expensive iPhone 5 was worth US$15 million. It was made of 135 grams of 24-carat gold and the chassis was inlaid with 600 white diamonds.

11. High purity metallic gold is odorless and tasteless. This makes sense since the metal is unreactive.

12. Pure gold does not cause skin irritations.

13. An ounce of gold can be beaten into a sheet covering 100 square feet.

14. India is the world's largest consumer of gold today.

15. Two thirds of the world's gold comes from South Africa.

16. South Asian jewelry is generally more pure than western jewelry, comprised of 22 carat gold rather than 14 carat.