Online pawn shop

• Gold leaf can be beaten thin enough to become translucent. The transmitted light appears greenish blue, because gold strongly reflects yellow and red.
• The special issue Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin contains the highest purity gold of any bullion coin, at 99.999%
• Because of the softness of pure (24k) gold, it is usually alloyed with base metals for use in jewelry, altering its hardness and ductility, melting point, color and other properties.
• Alloys with lower caratage, typically 22k, 18k, 14k or 10k, contain higher percentages of copper, or other base metals or silver or palladium in the alloy. Copper is the most commonly used base metal, yielding a redder color.
• Eighteen carat gold containing 25% copper is found in antique and Russian jewelery and has a distinct, though not dominant, copper cast, creating rose gold.
• Fourteen carat gold-copper alloy is nearly identical in color to certain bronze alloys, and both may be used to produce police, as well as other, badges.
• Blue gold can be made by alloying with iron and purple gold can be made by alloying with aluminium although rarely done except in specialized jewelry. Blue gold is more brittle and therefore more difficult to work with when making jewelry.
• Fourteen and eighteen carat gold alloys with silver alone appear greenish-yellow and are referred to as green gold.
• White gold alloys can be made with palladium or nickel. White 18 carat gold containing 17.3% nickel, 5.5% zinc and 2.2% copper is silver in appearance. Nickel is toxic, however, and its release from nickel white gold is controlled by legislation in Europe. Alternative white gold alloys are available based on palladium, silver and other white metals (World Gold Council), but the palladium alloys are more expensive than those using nickel. High-carat white gold alloys are far more resistant to corrosion than are either pure silver or sterling silver.
• The Japanese craft of Mokume-gane exploits the color contrasts between laminated colored gold alloys to produce decorative wood-grain effects.
• Goldwasser (English: Goldwater) is a traditional herbal liqueur produced in Gdańsk (Poland) and Schwabach (Germany), and contains flakes of gold leaf. There are also some expensive (~$1000) cocktails which contain flakes of gold leaf. However, since metallic gold is inert to all body chemistry, it adds no taste nor has it any other nutritional effect and leaves the body unaltered.
• Gold leaf, flake or dust is used on and in some gourmet foods, notably sweets and drinks as decorative ingredient. Gold flake was used by the nobility in Medieval Europe as a decoration in food and drinks, in the form of leaf, flakes or dust, either to demonstrate the host's wealth or in the belief that something that valuable and rare must be beneficial for one's health.
• In medieval times, gold was often seen as beneficial for the health, in the belief that something that rare and beautiful could not be anything but healthy. Even some modern esotericists and forms of alternative medicine assign metallic gold a healing power. Some gold salts do have anti-inflammatory properties and are used as pharmaceuticals in the treatment of arthritis and other similar conditions.  However, only salts and radioisotopes of gold are of pharmacological value, as elemental (metallic) gold is inert to all chemicals it encounters inside the body.
• Gold, or alloys of gold and palladium, are applied as conductive coating to biological specimens and other non-conducting materials such as plastics and glass to be viewed in a scanning electron microscope. The coating, which is usually applied by sputtering with an argon plasma, has a triple role in this application. Gold's very high electrical conductivity drains electrical charge to earth, and its very high density provides stopping power for electrons in the SEM's electron beam, helping to limit the depth to which the electron beam penetrates the specimen. This improves definition of the position and topography of the specimen surface and increases the spatial resolution of the image. Gold also produces a high output of secondary electrons when irradiated by an electron beam, and these low-energy electrons are the most commonly-used signal source used in the scanning electron microscope.
• In modern times injectable gold has been proven to help to reduce the pain and swelling of rheumatoid arthritis and tuberculosis.
• Many competitions, and honors, such as the Olympics and the Nobel Prize, award a gold medal to the winner.
• Egyptian hieroglyphs from as early as 2600 BC describe gold, which king Tushratta of the Mitanni claimed was "more plentiful than dirt" in Egypt. Egypt and especially Nubia had the resources to make them major gold-producing areas for much of history.
• The earliest known map is known as the Turin Papyrus Map and shows the plan of a gold mine in Nubia together with indications of the local geology. The primitive working methods are described by Strabo and included fire-setting. Large mines also occurred across the Red Sea in what is now Saudi Arabia.
• Gold is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament, starting with Genesis 2:11 (at Havilah) and is included with the gifts of the magi in the first chapters of Matthew New Testament. The Book of Revelation 21:21 describes the city of New Jerusalem as having streets "made of pure gold, clear as crystal".
• Gold has been used as a symbol for purity, value, royalty, and particularly roles that combine these properties.
• Gold as a sign of wealth and prestige was made fun of by Thomas More in his treatise Utopia. On that imaginary island, gold is so abundant that it is used to make chains for slaves, tableware and lavatory-seats. When ambassadors from other countries arrive, dressed in ostentatious gold jewels and badges, the Utopians mistake them for menial servants, paying homage instead to the most modestly-dressed of their party.
• There is an age-old tradition of biting gold in order to test its authenticity. Although this is certainly not a professional way of examining gold, the bite test should score the gold because gold is a soft metal, as indicated by its score on the Mohs' scale of mineral hardness. The purer the gold the easier it should be to mark it. Painted lead can cheat this test because lead is softer than gold (and may invite a small risk of lead poisoning if sufficient lead is absorbed by the biting).
• During the 19th century, gold rushes occurred whenever large gold deposits were discovered. The first documented discovery of gold in the United States was at the Reed Gold Mine near Georgeville, North Carolina in 1803. The first major gold strike in the United States occurred in a small north Georgia town called Dahlonega. Further gold rushes occurred in California, Colorado, Otago, Australia, Witwatersrand, Black Hills, and Klondike.
• India is the world’s largest consumer of gold. Indian consumers buy about 25 per cent of the world’s gold. Indians buy approximately 800 tonnes of gold every year. India is also the largest importer of the yellow metal; in 2008 India imported around 400 tonnes of gold.
• Since 1968 the price of gold on the open market has ranged widely, from a high of $850/oz ($27,300/kg) on January 21, 1980, to a low of $252.90/oz ($8,131/kg) on June 21, 1999 (London Gold Fixing). The 1980 high was not overtaken until January 3, 2008 when a new maximum of $865.35 per troy ounce was set (a.m. London Gold Fixing). The current record price was set on March 17, 2008 at $1023.50/oz ($32,900/kg)(am. London Gold Fixing).
• Diamonds have been treasured as gemstones since their use as religious icons in ancient India. Their usage in engraving tools also dates to early human history. Popularity of diamonds has risen since the 19th century because of increased supply, improved cutting and polishing techniques, growth in the world economy, and innovative and successful advertising campaigns.
• The name diamond is derived from the ancient Greek ἀδάμας (adámas), "proper", "unalterable", "unbreakable, untamed", from ἀ- (a-), "un-" + δαμάω (damáō), "I overpower, I tame".
• Diamond is the hardest natural material known, where hardness is defined as resistance to scratching. Diamond has a hardness of 10 (hardest) on Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Diamond's hardness has been known since antiquity, and is the source of its name.
• Watches evolved from portable spring driven clocks, which first appeared in the 15th century.
• In the US, pawnshops with firearms licences sell pistols and rifles to customers who meet state and federal acquisition criteria. In other countries, though, such as Canada and the UK, pawnshops do not sell firearms.
• In some cities, pawnshops must give a list of all newly-pawned items and their serial number to the police, to allow the police to determine if any of the items have been reported as stolen. Many police departments will advise burglary or robbery victims to visit local pawnshops to see if they can locate stolen items which might have been pawned or sold to the pawnbroker.
• In Hong Kong the practice follows the Chinese tradition, and the counter of the shop is typically higher than the average person for security. A customer can only hold up his hand to offer belongings and there is a wooden screen between the door and the counter for customers' privacy. The symbol of a pawn shop in Hong Kong is a bat (the animal) holding a coin (traditional Chinese: 蝠鼠吊金錢, Cantonese: fūk syú diu gām chín). The bat signifies fortune and the coin signifies benefits.
• In Japan, the usual symbol for a pawn shop is a circled digit seven, as "shichi", the Japanese word for seven, sounds similar to the word for "pawn" (質).
• Lombard banking refers to the historical use of the term 'Lombard' for a pawn shop in the Middle Ages, a type of banking that originated with the prosperous northern Italian region of Lombardy (hence the name).
• In Polish and Russian, a pawn shop is called simply lombard.

Source:  wikipedia

• Pawnbrokers received bad press during the Dickensian era, when pawnbrokers dealt with only the very poorest of society who had little choice where to borrow money.
• The industry as we know it today can be traced back to fifteenth century Italy when the noble Medici family was a dominant financial power. When the family was split in two, one half of the family became bankers and the other, pawnbrokers. The pawnbroking side of the family took with it half of the family crest, which incorporated the now instantly recognisable sign of the pawnbroker, the famous three gold balls.
• Pawnbroking is another form of banking.
• The NPA is the trade organisation for Britain’s pawnbroking industry and has a growing membership now in excess of 900 outlets.
• Pawnbroking today has shed its old Dickensian image and is part of the credit industry and is regulated alongside banks and other lenders by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Pawnbroking shops are modern, well lit and offer a friendly personal service.
• The National Pawnbrokers Association was incorporated in 1931 as a company limited by guarantee.
• Around 88% of goods are redeemed - it is not in the pawnbroker's interest for goods not to be redeemed.  Daily Express, 10 April 1996
• Pawnbroking businesses are on the High Street and are very often jewellery retailers giving them a perfect shop set-up for lending and for keeping goods safely in storage.

Source: www.thenpa.com