Special Sub-Topic: Gold - How is thy Shine? - I Click Here To Play: Gold - How is thy Shine? - I

Who exclaimed,'Solomon, I've surpassed thee' after his 'pet project' was completed in A.D. 537? (The quote was apparent reference to the amount of gold used in this project.)

Justinian. The Byzantine Emperor Justinian supervised the construction of the Church of Saint Sophia in Constantinople and which needed around 12 metric tons of gold). Justinian's reference was to the Biblical king Solomon, who had build a great temple adorned with gold (near modern Jerusalem).

Gold turns the greatest of heroes into men of 'loose integrity'! Nothing can illustrate this better than the Greek hero, whose adventure (and its perils) were linked to gold and whose bride-to-be's death also had the element of gold in it. Who was it?

Jason. Jason retrived the Golden Fleece; in the process, he had secured the help of Medea under the pretext that he would marry her. However, Jason's world crumbled around him in a series of events after this. He 'ditched' Medea to woo the daughter of King Creon. Medea, scorned and bitter, presented a gown made of gold (and drenched in poison) to Jason's bride-to-be. She then killed her sons (fathered by Jason). Jason, inconsolable, stabbed himself to death.

Today, we define the purity of gold in carats but it was first used to describe the weight of the gold that was being transacted. Where did this word originate from?

From a fruit. Keration (Greek), qirat (Arabic) or carato (Italian) - all were used to describe the fruit of the Carob tree. A pod of this fruit weighed 1/5th of a gram. Today weight is measured in grains (though the price is generally expressed in US$ per 'troy ounce').

Midas, the man with the 'golden touch', is the best example of the lust that gold generates in the mind of mortals. To relieve him of his golden touch, Bacchus (who granted him the wish in the first place) asked him to bathe in a particular river. Which river?

Pactolus. The legend has it that Midas's Golden touch passed on to the river; this ushured in prosperity for the Phrygian empire (Midas's) and the neighbouring Lydians. Later, Midas was attacked by the Cimmerians and his empire was destroyed. However his chariot remained tied to a post in the main temple of Gordium with a complex knot (aka the Gordian Knot). [Please note that there are different versions of this story.]

Which Lydian king, reportedly showed off his gold to Solon, the famous Greek law-maker and enquired whether the latter had met anyone more fortunate than him?

Croesus. Croesus was the fifth (and last) generation ruler of the Gyges dynasty. To Croesus's comment, all Solon said was, "my dear Croesus, humans are the creatures of pure chance." Croesus was one of the first rulers to incorporate gold coins into the currency. The Lydian Empire is also credited with creating the first official 'Bimetallic Standard' (which continued till the 18th century A.D.).

This 'King of Kings' was the first person to stamp his potrait on the official gold coin. He called these coins by his name. Name this 'great' ruler?

Darius. Croesus put only an official logo in his coins. Darius, the Persian Emperor, put not only his potrait on the coin, but he also called them 'Darics'. The Persian Empire was also the first to collect taxes in coins rather than in kind.

'Gold kills'! At least this axiom was literally true for one Roman gentleman, who made his money by organising fire brigades, 'unscrupulous' tenancy deals besides other sources of income. Name this prominent personality who met his end when the Parthians poured molten gold down his throat?

Crassus. Crassus lived around the same time as Ceasar and Pompey. Crassus provoked the Parthians (Mesopotamia) and attacked them with 40,000 odd troops. However, he wasn't a military genius!

When first released, these coins weighed 4.55 gms and were 98% pure. This coin was used in transactions for around 700 years - the longest ever till A.D. 2003. What were these coins called?

Bezants. First introduced by Emperor Constantine, they were the official currency units of the Byzantine Empire. Ironically Bezant was introduced at a time when the Romans were debasing their currencies.

The Arab Muslims also had a great need for gold. They started using Gold coins (based on the Byzantine currency). The first Gold coins were issued by Caliph Abd el-Melik at Damascus. What were these coins popularly known as?

Dinars. The Dinars initially had the Caliph's face in it, which was subsequently replaced by quotations from the Holy Quran (a tradition that still continues in many Arab currencies).

During the 15th century, Europeans used a particular name to call the gold-bearing areas (especially in Africa). Though controversy surrounds the origin of the word, it is still used today, albeit for different reasons. What was the name given to these gold-bearing areas?

Guinea. Initially, the British used to call these areas 'Ginney'. The Portugese even went to the extent of getting permission from the Pope to call their King 'Lord of Guinea'. In 1662, the English started minting a new coin called the 'Guinea'. Originally intended to be worth one pound sterling, its value rose with the gold price ... It wasn't till the 19th century that the Bank of England had the resources to stabilize (or fix) the price of gold (1823 onwards).