NEW YORK — The American Museum of Natural History is getting a touch of Midas.
The institution, which has staged exhibits on diamonds, pearls, turquoise and amber, will unveil its latest showcase, “Gold,” on Saturday. The exhibit, which will run until Aug. 19, discusses the history of gold, mining the precious metal, the uses of gold and its future.
“We all know that gold is valuable and rare,” said the exhibit’s curator, Jim Webster, the museum’s chair and curator in the division of Earth and Planetary Sciences. “One-hundred fifty-three thousand metric tons have been mined in human history and there’s still vast quantities of gold in the earth, though they can be under oceans or in glaciers. The only continent gold hasn’t been found on is Antarctica.”
Gold, which in Latin is called aurum, or “glowing dawn,” was the first metal worked by humans and was valued throughout the history of most cultures for a luster that never tarnished.
The exhibition features 80 natural gold specimens in the forms of nuggets, crystals, flakes and nests. Also on display are antique gold coins and 28 gold bars.
“Gold has been used throughout time as a standard for finance and economics, as well as achievement [when it is] used to recognize achievements in awards,” said Webster, adding that the Federal Reserve Bank has one-sixteenth of the gold ever mined.
Today, the largest exporter of gold is South Africa, which has produced more than 40 percent of the world’s gold, followed by Australia, the U.S. and China.
Since 78 percent of gold is used for jewelry, there are pieces on display such as a wrist band from the Tiwanaku culture circa 100-400, to Persian hoop earrings circa 1200-1300. There are also more modern pieces like a 1988 Paloma Picasso brooch from Tiffany & Co. and Elizabeth Taylor’s Cartier tank watch from 1959.
The exhibit also touches on gold mining practices, which have been criticized for their negative impact on the environment. Major gold mining companies have put in place procedures intended to minimize any adverse environmental impact, although accidents sometimes occur.
Related Articles
You May Also Like
A 1,000-square-foot boutique has been opened in tandem with the exhibit, with traditional offerings such as books, as well as jewelry from the likes of Yossi Harari, Tracy Zabar and Kenneth Jay Lane.
“The exhibition is further evidence of the resurgence of public interest in this warm and radiant precious metal, and reminds us all that the allure of gold is just as strong today as it has been for centuries,” said Duvall O’Steen, jewelry promotions manager for the World Gold Council, a New York-based association of gold producers.