Gold
Real Metals · Rare · Timeless
Gold never rusts and never tarnishes: it comes out of the ground looking the way it went in, which is most of the reason it became money. It is also absurdly soft, a single gram beating out into a sheet a metre across and thin enough to see daylight through. Everything ever mined would fit inside a cube twenty-two metres on a side.
Identity
- Symbol
- Au
- Atomic number
- 79
- Source
- Natural element
- Used in
- Electrum, Hepatizon, Mokume-gane, Rose Gold, Shakudo, Tumbaga, White Gold
- Also known as
- Aurum, Au
- Ores, before industry and since
- Gold, Sylvanite
- Ores of the industrial age
- Calaverite
- Ore deposits
- Placer deposit, Hydrothermal vein (lode), Porphyry copper deposit
- Used in alchemy
- Enchanted Pure Gold Powder
Physical Properties
- Appearance
- Brilliant yellow-gold, does not tarnish or corrode under any natural conditions
- Luster
- Metallic
- Density
- 19.32 g/cm³
- Melting point
- 1064 °C
- Boiling point
- 2856 °C
- Lighter
- Tungsten
- Denser
- Platinum
- Magnetism
- Non-magnetic
- Electrical conductivity
- Very High
Mechanical Properties
- Mohs hardness
- 2.5
- Tensile strength
- 120 MPa
- Softer
- Tin
- Harder
- Brass
- Workability
- Easy
- Brittleness
- Tough
- Malleability
- Very High
- Ductility
- Very High
Chemical Properties
- Corrosion resistance
- Absolute
- Reactivity
- Very Low
Lore & Narrative
Every gram of gold on Earth was formed in neutron star collisions billions of years before the solar system existed, then delivered here by asteroid impacts. The gold in your hands is older than the planet itself.
- Notable uses
- Currency, jewelry, electronics, dentistry, religious artifacts
- Forge uses
- Jewelry, Coinage, Religious artifacts, Electronics
- Worldbuilding traits
- Incorruptible, Valuable, Soft, Ancient
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025: Gold, USGS, 2025
- Gold, Wikipedia
Browse the Metal Encyclopedia — MGS Toolbox