The economic, artistic, spiritual and political significance and value of gold seemed to converge during late antiquity and the early Middle ages in a wide variety of cultures - in the rise of the Byzantine Empire, among the Cleric tribes of northern Europe and Britain, The South Korean kingdom Silla, and in the Chinese dynasties, to name only a few. Gold's range of uses supported the fabric of human life: in coronation ceremonies, it reinforced kingship and the power of the state; in religious rituals, it eased access to God and the ascendancy of priestly classes; it generated prestige and communicated religious and political ideologies through art and and architecture; it reinforced social hierarchies as an indication of status; it contributed to the expansion of literacy and culture of the book in the illuminated manuscripts produced by scribes in early medieval scriptural; it perpetuated marriage and family ties as a predominant type of dowry; and it contributed to the expansion, as a transportable and widely accepted form of monetary exchange.

During the medieval period, gold was an essential component of the formation of the merchant republics and city-states in Europe, in which the rise of the modern state and the development of capitalist economies occurred. Advanced minting practices guaranteedndardized system of value for gold coins, such as the VeneVenetiancat or the floring of the Florenteconomicomic expansion and the early development of systems of banking and credit in the goldsmiths and money changer guilds. Creation of wealth during the 14th and 15th centuries, emanating from the increasingly powerful merchant and tradesman class, generated a new form of material culture, a trend that fostered much of the patronage of art and literature during the Renaissance by fueling demand with new patterns of spending disposable wealth. Gold was thus central to the circumstances behind the phenomena of Renaissance Italy, a pored when renewed appreciation for the ideologies and practices of Greek and Roman antiquity and revolutionary new attitudes about natural philosophy, civic life, and individuality coalesced top form what historian Jacob Burkhardt considered to be the nucleus of modern society.

The emergence of more sophisticated economies during the Renaissance contributed to the predominance of political centralization in Europe and the Middle East that came to be known as the "rise of the modern state" in the early modern era. Maintaining a strong treasury with adequate gold reserves; upholding authoritative monetary policy; regulating the flow of gold and silver bullion, and minting national coinage; and sustaining opulent patronage of the arts a demonstration of power and authority in courtly life were were essential components of empire building and balance-of-power politics between the great powers of Europe and the Mediterranean from the 16th to the 18th century. Demand for gold in this period created a need for greater territorial expansion and access to efficient trade routes, which set in motion centuries of discovery and exploration that resulted in European settlement and colonization of North and South America, India, Africa and Asia. In order to support the widening bureaucratic and economic functions of the state, banking and credit institutions expanded and modern academic disciplines developed in colleges and universities to advise rulers and government administrators. Gold thus influenced the establishment of modern economic theory, chemistry, natural history, geology and Industries technology.

Following the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in California Sacramento River Valley in 1848 and subsequent 19th-century gold rushes in Australia, the Klondike, and South Africa, the global production of gold increased tenfold, a phenomenon that led to the western expansion of the United States, scientific and technological advancements in the mining industry, and a level of gold reserve as sets that made the era of the gold standard possible between 1880 and the 1930s, when 59 countries around the world adopted a currency pegged to either an uniform gold standard or a gold exchange standard. During this period, statesmen and economic advisers considered gold to be integrally tied to the power and legitimacy of the state. Even after the gold standard became unsustainable in the economic environment of post-World War II global economies, economists and political leaders clung fiercely to the idea of the need to maintain currencies convertible into gold equivalents. Many leaders shared the sentiment of French economist Jacques Ruelf who feared the collapse of the gold standard would undermine the preservation of free democratic society. Adherence to the gold standard had fostered creditability and cooperation among nations and was thought to have contributed to the creation of political economic stability in developing regions.

With the final collapse of the gold standard and global pegging of foreign currencies to the U.S. dollar at exchange rates tied to a fixed prices and adequate gold reserves in 1971, national currencies were no longer convertible into gold and conceptions of value in monetary policy adjusted to meet the growing needs of new dynamics in more global economic and financial systems. Yet gold reserves remained and important tool among national treasuries and super-national institutions such as the International Monetary Fund in the preservation of economic stability and international relations. Gold continued to shine; however, although no longer at the core of systems of monetary exchange, gold assumed new levels of value during the late 20th century as a traded commodity when scientific innovations in nanotechnology discovered significant applications of gold in its nanoparticulate form that could be efficiently employed in critical emergent industries such computer microcircuit boards, aerospace technologies, information and communication technology; transportation and energy, biomedical research, and health and beauty products.

At the beginning of the 21st century, global economic crisis and the erosion of faith in banking and credit institutions triggered and unprecedented increase in the price of gold and a resurgence of investment in gold as an asset. When in double, it seems, humankind still retains a deep regard and faith in gold's supreme and enduring value. Indeed, it is ironic that during periods of strife or crisis, scholars, politicians, and citizens have often weighed in on gold's function in contemporary society, and in doing so engaged in an ancient debate. Perhaps gold's ultimate purpose in human history will prove to be reminiscent of the myth in which the ancient Athenian philosopher Solon reminded King Croesus of Lydia that human happiness may run a course at pace with riches but is never simply based on wealth.

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