History of Precious Metals
Gold and silver have been precious for over 6,000 years
Every chain, coin and teaspoon that crosses our counter is part of a much older story. Here it is in plain language: where gold and silver came from, what people did with them, and what they've been worth along the way.
Explore
Pick the part of the story you're curious about
The world
Gold & silver around the world
Egyptian gold, the very first coins, Spanish silver and the great gold rushes. Plus the part Canada played, from the Klondike to Cobalt, Ontario.
Read the history →The uses
How people have used gold & silver
Money and jewellery, of course. But also false teeth, church treasures, early photographs, wound dressings and astronaut visors.
Explore the uses →The value
What gold & silver have been worth
Prices since 1900 in US and Canadian dollars, and the stories behind the big moves of 1934, 1971, 1980, 2011 and 2026.
See the price charts →All articles
More from our history library
Deeper dives into stamps, coins, gold rushes, silverware and more. Pick one and dig in.
Stamps
How to read gold and silver stamps
925, 585, 10K, G.F., EPNS: what the tiny marks on your jewellery and silverware mean, from London's first hallmarks in 1300 to Canada's rules today.
Read →Coins
Old Canadian coins: which ones are silver?
Sterling until 1919, 80% until 1967, then 50% before silver ended in 1968. A year-by-year guide to the silver in Canada's old circulating coins.
Read →Bullion coins
The story of bullion coins
From the Krugerrand in 1967 to Canada's 99.99% Gold Maple Leaf, here's how one-ounce bullion coins became a popular way to hold gold and silver.
Read →Klondike
The Klondike Gold Rush, from creek to stampede
One find on a Yukon creek sent about 100,000 people north. The Klondike story, from Bonanza Creek and the Chilkoot Pass to Dawson City.
Read →Ontario
Ontario's silver and gold rushes
Cobalt's silver, the Porcupine, Kirkland Lake's Mile of Gold and Hemlo: how northern Ontario became Canada's top gold province.
Read →Money
The gold standard and the Canadian dollar
From the Currency Act of 1854 to Canada's last 77 ounces of reserve gold: how the Canadian dollar was tied to gold, and how it came loose.
Read →Silverware
Sterling silver at the table
Golden forks in Venice, a 1670 silver teapot, Elkington's silver plate and the souvenir spoon craze: the story of silver on the table, plus how to spot sterling.
Read →Glossary
A plain-English precious metals glossary
Karat or carat? Gold filled or gold plated? 33 gold and silver terms, from alloy to white gold, explained in plain English.
Read →Jewellery
Jewellery through the eras
Candlelit Georgian diamonds, Victorian mourning jet, Edwardian platinum, Art Deco geometry and Retro rose gold: how to tell which era your jewellery comes from.
Read →Ratio
The gold-to-silver ratio, explained
How many ounces of silver buy one ounce of gold? How to work it out, and how the ratio has swung from 2.5 in ancient Egypt to 125.7 in 2020.
Read →Dental gold
A history of gold in dentistry
Etruscan gold bands, gold foil fillings and the 1907 cast inlay. How gold got into our teeth, and why dentists use so much less of it now.
Read →Nuggets
The world's most famous gold nuggets
From the Welcome Stranger to BC's Turnagain Nugget: the world's most famous gold finds, what they weighed, and how nuggets form.
Read →Timeline
6,000 years in nine moments
The highlights, in order. Each one is covered in more detail in the pages above.
- About 4500 BCEVarna, Bulgaria
Some of the oldest worked gold ever found is buried in a cemetery here. Archaeologists have recovered about 5 kg of it.
- Around 600 BCELydia, in today's Türkiye
The first coins appear: small lumps of electrum, a natural mix of gold and silver, stamped with a lion's head.
- 1300London, England
A royal law sets the sterling standard for silver and requires the leopard's head mark. That's the start of hallmarking.
- 1545Potosí, Bolivia
A mountain of silver is discovered. Spanish silver coins soon travel the world, all the way to China.
- 1896Yukon, Canada
Gold is found on Rabbit Creek, soon renamed Bonanza Creek. About 100,000 people set out for the Klondike.
- 1903Cobalt, Ontario
Silver turns up while a new railway is being built. By 1910 the town ranks fourth in the world for silver.
- 1971Washington, D.C.
The US stops exchanging dollars for gold. Within two years, the old fixed-price system is gone.
- 1979Ottawa, Canada
The Royal Canadian Mint launches the Gold Maple Leaf, which became the first bullion coin to reach 99.99% purity.
- 2026Everywhere
Gold passes US$5,000 an ounce for the first time in January, and silver tops US$121.
At our counter
Why this history matters when you sell
A lot of what happens during an evaluation goes back centuries.
Stamps tell the story
Hallmarks started in London in 1300. Today, a stamp like 10K, 14K or 925 is the first clue to what a piece is made of.
Purity sets the value
In Canada, gold has to be at least 9K to carry a quality mark. 14K is 58.3% gold and 18K is 75%. The more gold in a piece, the more it's worth.
The market sets the price
Gold hasn't had a fixed price since the early 1970s. That's why we test and weigh your pieces while you watch, using today's market price.
Got a piece of history in your jewellery box?
It’s worth more than you think.
Bring it to our Burlington shop or a pop-up near you, or book a pick-up. We test it in front of you and explain what it’s worth. Free evaluations, and no pressure, ever.