New Museum Exhibit Explores Power & Beauty Of Gold

Crystallized gold specimens like this are extremely rare in nature. AMNH / Denis Finnin

Gold, a spectacular exhibition that will explore the historical fascination with this enduring icon of wealth, beauty, and power, is now open at the Ameri-can Museum of Natural History. This exhibition continues a series the Muse-um has developed on precious and semi-precious materials.

Showcasing a vast array of extraordinary objects gleaned from the geology and cultural anthropology holdings of major museums and private collections around the world, Gold presents the fascinating scientific and cultural story of this rare and prized element. The influence of gold through-out history will be examined through the currency of ancient civilizations, displays on the Gold Rush that shaped the American West, and contemporary pop culture items. Exhibition highlights include the famous Latrobe Nugget, a specimen of rare natural crystallized gold; gold bars; rare doubloons retrieved from sunken Spanish galleons; the first gold coins minted in ancient Ly-dia (now Turkey); gold textiles; and gleaming pre-Columbian jewelry and other objects from the museum's own collection.

Byzantine coin - front and back. AMNH / Craig Chesek

Visitors can experience firsthand the alluring splendor of the finest gold specimens on Earth and learn how gold is located, mined, processed, and turned into both beautiful and useful objects. Among the treasures on display is a reproduction of a 3,000-year-old map - the Turin Papyrus found in Egypt - that pinpoints the location of regional gold deposits. Compelling mo-dern objects include Olympic medals, Academy Awards Oscar statuettes, and best-selling gold records, that illustrate the powerful hold that gold continues to have on our imagination.

Throughout the exhibition, there are numerous opportunities for visitors to explore the unique properties of gold. They can walk through a room completely covered in a single ounce of gold flattened to exquisite thinness, and guess the amount of gold found in a boulder.

Gold opened at the Museum on November 18, and will remain on view through August 19, 2007.