Here are some physical facts about gold that I found in an old copy of THE STORY OF OUR ROCKS and MINERALS. A Ladybird Book. Published in 1966.

Gold.
In the days of Pharaoh, three thousand years ago, the Egyptians were using gold to make beautiful cups, bowls and necklaces. These are still as perfect as when they were first made. Gold is the ‘King of metals’ because it never loses its bright colour or decays away. This is why it has been used for centuries as money. The Mint in London is the place where coins have been long made from bars of solid gold.
Gold leaf is made by beating it into thin sheets, and this is possible because it is a very soft metal. Usually it is hardened by being mixed wit copper or silver. The purity of gold is measured in ‘carats’: twenty-four carat is pure gold, which is too soft for use. Fourteen carat is the usual strength for pen nibs. Wedding rings are twenty-two carat. The dentist sometimes uses gold for filling teeth, and gold paint is used for patterns on cups and saucers.
Gold is found in rivers by sifting the sand in large pans and, when finds are made, the miners search the hills for the mineral veins of gold. One famous nugget found In Australia was worth ten-thousand pounds.

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