Gold was the first metal recognized by human, as it is one of the least active elements of metals. It doesn’t even react with oxygen in air. You must have heard of oxidized iron, oxidized copper, and even oxidized silver, but you must not have heard of oxidized gold. Therefore, humans could utilize this metal directly without smelting.

Although our ancestors got access to gold as early as they were still in caves, they did not try to utilize this metal. Gold is rare and has a very low hardness. It has a Mohs hardness of only 2.5, just a little higher than graphite, and is not suitable for use as a tool. As a result, gold quickly evolved into a symbol of power and wealth. As early as around the fourth millennium B.C., humans began to use gold as a decorative item. Subsequently, thanks to its rarity, gold (especially in the European region) was recognized as currency and was used until the 1930s.

In 1932, the United States unilaterally terminated the convertibility of the U.S. dollar into gold, marking the end of the history of gold as money. Today, gold still exists in our lives more as a luxury. Gold has also become a stock whose value fluctuates over time like any other stock.

I used to think seriously about what it would be like if gold never existed on earth. It is true that gold has some applications in industry because of its excellent electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion, but I realized that all of these seems broing. Whether as a carrier of money, or as an anti-corrosive agent, gold is not irreplaceable. One can always choose another metal (in the case of currency, silver is an alternative) as a substitute. Therefore, at least it’s a bit boring to assume that gold never existed.

After all, we’re going to make some interesting assumptions: let’s assume that all the gold disappears into thin air in the next second. 

Although the gold standard no longer exists, the disappearance of gold would still have a significant impact on our life. Let’s follow the timeline to see what will happen if gold disappear. 

1 second

Nothing happens. No one notices anything. There are some people with gold jewelries who might feel something leave them, but they must have missed the change. Please don’t ask me for specific details. I have never lost my jewelries because I have never had them. 

1 minute

The first people who notice the anomaly are the clerks in the jewelry store. They will notice that all their gold jewelries disappear. They will call the police, and in a short period of time, the police offices around the world will remain occupied or even paralyzed. At the same time, some visitors may also notice that all the gold exhibits in the museum have disappeared, but they may perceive it as regular maintenance of the artifacts. When I travelled to Spain, I noticed that the roofs of their palaces were made of tons of gold. I was actually looking forward to what would happen when all that gold disappeared.

10 minute

The widespread disappearance of gold has drawn the attention of the politicians. They would check the country’s gold reserves and realize that all the gold had disappeared. At the same time, some people will find that their electronic devices have stopped working. This is because their devices contain gold. Even so, most of the devices are able to function normally, because there is very little gold in them. For example, Iphone XS contains only about 0.018g of gold.

1 hour

The medias begin to report on the widespread disappearance of gold. People question whether the gold has all disappeared, and the price of gold began to fall rapidly in the stock market. A portion of investors as well as families will suffer incalculable losses.

3 hour

Reluctantly, most governments tell the public that gold has all disappeared. The currency of large countries, such as the United States, will not be affected very much, but the currencies of some of the countries that are still secured by gold will be devalued rapidly. Governments will have to start looking for metals that are as valuable as gold.

1 day

There are a number of countries that begin to develop silver mines on a large scale. Thanks to their scarce reserves, metals such as ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and platinum will also become more popular. Many electronic devices gradually stop working. People have to spend a few weeks without navigation and signals. The government will provide free wifi coverage in densely populated areas for people. The tech giants will quickly invest in the research and development of electronic devices to find an alternative for gold.

1 week

Because of the disappearance of gold, there are those who will commit suicide because of unsustainable loss, but most will get used to it. Jewelries made of other materials may reappear in luxury stores, but most people will not buy them because they fear that other metals may disappear as well. 

1 month

China, the U.S., and some European countries begin to relaunch satellites. Cell phone signals begin to return. Some countries start using the US dollar as their financial systems collapsed. Apple, Intel and other tech companies release brand new tech products and highly recommend consumers to buy them, claiming that old electronic devices will become unstable as the gold disappears.

6 month

People have gradually adapted to life without gold. Silver replaces gold and re-entered the stock market as precious metal. However, not many people are willing to purchase silver and jewelry in large quantities because they fear that silver would disappear one day as well. Most countries also got over the crisis and started using their own currencies again.

1 year

The disappearance of gold has passed. Most people have forgotten that this element hasever existed.