When was gold discovered?

It is impossible to say who, when and where gold was first discovered; especially when gold has appeared throughout human history.

Discoveries of gold have had a tremendous influence on human history. It has caused major migrations, wars, and changed world powers. Being both extremely attractive and easy to work, it is probably one of the first metals used by man.

Gold is found all over the globe and, on rare occasions, in pure and workable forms. The majority of gold is underground in seams, combined with other metals and materials. These seams are known as lodes. Over time (geologic periods or ages), lodes are eroded and washes away to new locations. The resulting gold deposits are known as placers. In some instances, placers may be in the form of pure gold surface nuggets.

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Who discovered gold?
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In the form of pure nuggets, it is likely that the precious metal was worked and used independently by many and totally unrelated ancient civilisations. It was certainly used in Europe and South America long before the two civilisations came into contact through the voyage of Columbus in 1492.
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Asia

As far back as 4000 BC, the ancient Chinese exploited the region's rich placer deposits. By 1092 AD they had also developed underground mining techniques. Despite this, gold was not highly valued in ancient China. Greater value was placed on jade and bronze. Most Chinese gold artefacts were obtained from trade with Asia Minor, in exchange for silk through the famous silk roads.

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Peruvian Funerary Mask from the US Walters Art Museum.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia and the Creative Commons license.

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America

Recent finds date the earliest gold work in South America back to 2155 BC. Around 1200 BC, the Peruvian Chavin culture produced many fine gold jewellery items. Much later, in 500 BC, the Nazca Civilisation developed sophisticated casting methods.

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Europe

European gold usage grew from out of Asia Minor. Surface gold from placers in the form of electrum was used by the Lydian civilisation in the Iron Age. There is also evidence that later, the ancient Egyptians went on to develop underground lode mining.

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Gold plaques embossed with winged bee goddesses - perhaps the Thriai - found at Camiros, Rhodes.
These artifacts are dated to the 7th century BC. Photo courtesy the British Museum via Wikimedia.

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The ancient Greeks, and then Romans, conquered the Lydian regions and learnt from their gold production methods. They also copied and perfected their use of gold as coinage.

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What year was gold found?
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In prehistoric and ancient periods, the ability to refine and work with gold was the major factor limiting production. As civilisations around the globe developed their refining processes, the discoveries of raw materials replaced this as the controlling factor.

Even the ancient Romans refer to 'Gold Rush' but the world's first major rush for precious metals came from the Spanish conquistadors. Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer sponsored by the Spanish monarchy, landed in America in 1492. From that time to 1832, 1.86 million Spaniards followed him. Many were driven in the pursuit of the region's wealth in gold and other metals.

This huge colonisation turned Spain into the period's dominant world power. It also decimated the indigenous populations, including the Incas and Aztecs, which shrunk by 80% between 1492 and 1642.

As explorers from the western world progressed around the globe more rich gold resources were discovered and exploited. North Carolina, in 1799, saw the first gold rush in what is now the United States. It was, though, the California Gold Rush of 1848-55, in the Sierra Nevada, that lives on in popular imagination. This spearheaded the major colonisation by European immigrants of the western United States - 'the Wild West'. Subsequent mineral discoveries and gold rushes greatly contributed to the establishment and growth of the United States as a nation and a world power.

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Bernard Holtermann - one of the major profiteers from the 1870s New South Wales gold rush.
Photo courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales via Flickr and the Creative Commons license.

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At the same time as the California Gold Rush deposits were found in Australia, which was then part of the British Empire. This led to the New South Wales and Victorian gold rushes, and later the 1890s Western Australian gold rush. All three strengthened the British economy and drew settlers to Australia. Immigrants from other parts of the British Empire and Ireland went seeking their fortunes, not just directly for mining but also indirectly from other supply trades.

In 1888, gold was discovered in the Witwatersrand region of South Africa, which was also then part of the British Empire. Following the declaration of South Africa's independence in 1910, this and subsequent mineral discoveries - plus that of diamonds - contributed to make the nation Africa's richest economy.

As of 2018, China is now the largest gold producing nation. It was followed by Australia in second, and Russia in third.