Gold is a chemical element; its chemical symbol is Au (from Latin aurum) and atomic number 79.  In its pure form, it is a bright-metallic-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 11 element, and one of the noble metals.  It is one of the least reactive chemical elements, being the second lowest in the reactivity series, with only platinum ranked as less reactive.  Gold is solid under standard conditions.

Gold often occurs as the free element (native state), as nuggets or grains, in rocks, veins, and alluvial deposits.  It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver (as in electrum), naturally alloyed with other metals such as copper, platinum, and palladium, as well as mineral inclusions such as within pyrite.  Less commonly, it occurs in minerals as gold compounds, often with tellurium (gold tellurides).

A relatively rare element when compared to silver (though thirty times more common than platinum), gold is a precious metal that has been used for coinage, jewelry, and other works of art throughout recorded history.  In the past, a gold standard was often implemented as a monetary policy.  Most gold coins ceased to be minted as a circulating currency in the 1930s, and the world gold standard was abandoned for a fiat currency system after the Nixon shock measures of 1971.

(Wikipedia contributors. (2026, March 16). Gold. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.)