A common saying that has ancient roots.
The term above was popularised in Shakespeare’s ‘The Merchant of Venice’, which dates back to 1596, and his actual wording was ‘glisters’ rather than ‘glitters’, but we know what he meant. The term has ancient roots, going back to the time of Aesop’s Fables, which date back to the 6th Century BCE.
Gold is relatively scarce, with economically recoverable deposits existing in localised pockets rather than being universally accessible worldwide, but rarer and more valuable are kyawthuite, painite, musgravite, red beryl, and taaffeite, all of which I personally have never heard of. Kyawthuite has only one specimen ever found, and is recognised as the rarest mineral on Earth. Only one single crystal (a 1.61-carat deep reddish-orange stone) has ever been discovered, found in a river in Myanmar in 2010. I wondered if humanity knew about this mineral beforehand, and it appears that it was officially recognised as a new mineral by the International Mineralogical Association in 2015, and was officially classified as such at that date.
But getting back to gold - there are three substances that can be ‘fool’s gold’, that look like gold but aren’t. Chalcopyrite, weathered mica and pyrite - all look like gold but have no comparable value to the real thing. They are found in very different places too, with gold being found naturally in the Earth’s crust inside hard-rock geological formations and eroded stream beds, classified mainly as primary lodes or secondary placer deposits. Not much help is it in finding your own motherlode!
How to Tell Real Gold from Fake Gold
Real gold is soft and malleable; it gouges or flattens under pressure, like lead. Lookalikes are brittle and will shatter, crumble, or flake when poked or struck. Gold has a steady, warm, buttery-yellow glow that looks the same from every angle. Pyrite flashes like a mirror and shifts in appearance depending on the light angle, and real gold is extremely dense and feels very heavy for its size—about three times heavier than pyrite.
Gold Purity
Purities can be as low as 9ct or as high as 24ct (pure gold), measured by the amount of pure gold mixed into a metal alloy, calculated out of 24 parts. Higher carats mean more pure gold, a richer yellow colour, higher value per gram, but a softer metal that scratches easily, so beware if you decide to go for a higher-rated gold wedding band, as it will scratch and probably bend more easily.
Even pure gold can come in many colours - yellow, white and rose, but less common are green, grey, blue, purple and black, depending on what metal the gold is mixed with.
Some countries will officially stamp each piece of gold with a mark identifying its purity, and this includes the UK, India and France, where independent testing facilities (assay offices) must test and stamp precious metals before they can be sold legally. Other countries, like the USA, have stamping as optional, or may just stamp 14K if that is the piece’s carat value, but many other countries have no assay system at all, where antique or handmade jewellery will have to rely on professional testing or the manufacturer’s reputation.
Is gold still a popular metal?
Yes, gold remains an extremely popular and valuable metal today, driven by record-high market prices and strong demand from global investors and central banks. As for wedding bands, traditional gold remains a popular choice for couples as gold continues to carry great symbolic weight, representing devotion, heritage, and strength across generations, but platinum, tungsten and titanium are surging in popularity because of their modern look and durability.
Portugal does not have a major commercial gold mining industry today, but it holds substantial national gold reserves; however, it does contain minor natural fine gold deposits in certain northern and central river systems. Hobbyists occasionally practice recreational gold panning in specific regional watercourses, though substantial nuggets are rarely found.
Probably not worth standing in freezing river water for hours just to take home a few euros’ worth of shiny gravel and a chronic case of back pain, by the sound of it.