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34 Uses for Gold

John Spacey, August 17, 2022

Gold is a metal that has been used since antiquity as money and to produce high value items. It has unique properties such as resistance to corrosion, electrical conductivity, ductility and lack of toxicity that make it a valuable metal for a broad range of industrial applications. The use of gold is often minimized due to its price and weight. For example, it is very common to electroplate things with a thin layer of gold to benefit from its properties without using much. It is also common to use gold leaf, gold flakes and gold thread as another means to include small amounts of gold in things. Each year, over 50% of gold demand is for jewelry. A great deal of the world's stock of gold is used as money such as bullion and coins. The following are common uses of gold.

Aircraft	Architectural Ornaments
Bars	Beverages
Bullion	Catalyst
Chemicals	Coins
Colored Glass	Computers
Crafts	Dentistry
Edible Gold Leaf	Electrical Connectors
Electronics	Embroidery
Figurines	Glass Making / Smart Glass
Gold Thread	Heat Shielding
Home Decor (e.g. gilded mirror)	Infrared Shielding
Interior Decoration	Jewelry
Luxury Products	Medals & Awards
Medicine	Religious Items
Satellites	Spacecraft
Statues	Thrones & Crowns
Vehicles	Watches

Small amounts of gold are often used as a marketing tool to increase the perceived value of items such as food, electronics and handbags. For example, a cake with gold leaf on top.