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The typical robot that we are used to seeing, be it in television or the movies or even in real life is usually gray or silver-colored, right? We’re not sure why that is. Probably because the typical metal used to create robots was gray or silver. Silver is certainly a color that we associate with machinery. Well, if you had an invite to attend the RoboCup games that will take place from the end of June to early July, you would see robots made from gold.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) works with the sponsors of the RoboCup Games to organize the Nanogram, a portion of the event where tiny nanobots that are operated by computers compete. Gold nanobots will be competing in nanosoccer games, where they will play on fields that are no larger than a single grain of rice. So these gold robots are not the size of say, R2D@ from Star Wars, rather they are tiny creations, no bigger than a dust mite.

You may ask, why these scientists bother setting up competitions for gold nanobots that are so very small, and this is a reasonable question. It may even seem that this is just a recreational activity—after all if they are playing soccer with gold nanobots, how is that furthering research into science and technology? They do it to put their work to the test. Can these gold nanobots, which are controlled by computer, respond adequately? Are they agile enough to navigate and maneuver on their tiny rice-grain sized fields? This is very important work when you consider that gold nanobots such as these are on the cutting edge of medial science. In the future nanobots, like the gold ones that will compete in RoboCup 2009 will be used for complete microsurgery inside of humans. If you were facing surgery, you would certainly want to know that the methods and machinery had been tested and tried beforehand.

When you sell gold to a gold buyer, you never know where it may end up. Your gold could be used to make gold nanobots and other scientific equipment. Perhaps the gold you sell to get the cash for gold you need will also be used toward helping someone else in need. Imagine how many tiny, dust-mite sized gold nanobots could be made from one gold pendant or one gold earring?

On Wednesday we were looking at the fairy tale, The Goose Girl. In this story, a young, naive princess leaves home for her arranged marriage to a prince in a faraway land. On the way there, she is overpowered by her maidservant and forced to trade places and clothes so that when they arrive, the maidservant presents herself as the princess.
Part of the switch included the swapping of horses, so that the maidservant got the princess’s magnificent talking horse, while the princess had to ride the maidservant’s old nag. When they get to town, the real princess has to go to work herding geese, while her former maidservant gets to go to the palace and live a grand life.

The false princess, worried that the talking horse would tell on her, asks the prince to have the horse killed. The real princess is heartbroken to hear this since she loved the horse. Because she cannot prove who she is, she cannot save her beloved horse.  She goes to the man who was charged with his task and offers to give him a some gold if he will hang the horse’s head on one of the town gates.

(On the journey there, the real princess had often asked the maidservant to get her a drink from a gold cup. When the maidservant made her switch places, the maidservant presumably took possession of all the gold and silver jewelry and other valuable items that they princess had been given by her mother, the queen. Somehow the princess had managed to hide some of the gold that she had been given from the maidservant.)

Having the gold was a lifesaver for that princess because despite his being killed, the head of the horse continued to speak. We won’t reveal all of the details at the end of the tale, but being able to speak to the horse eventually reveals the princess’s true identity. Like all good fairy tales, the wrongs are righted.

Gold may be a lifesaver for you too. You may not have a whole lot, but if you still have some gold jewelry or a gold watch or gold bullion that you have saved, you can sell gold to a gold buyer. Now this gold will not enable a talking horse to do anything for you, but it will provide cash for gold that can help you in a time of need.

Earlier in the week we told you that a Japanese company has manufactured a gold beer mug. And that got us to thinking about how gold goblets, cups, and wind glasses have been around for ages. They are not all that common now, however, as many of them were probably sold to a gold buyer when someone needed a financial boost and wanted to get some cash for gold.

A cup made of gold is a key item in the fairy tale, The Goose Girl, the princess in the story leaves home because she is betrothed to a prince who lives in a faraway land. The princess’s father has already died, and her mother has to sent her out to get married, hoping that her daughter is able to complete the journey.

As is customary, the queen sends the princess out with many valuable items, included jewelry and trinkets made of gold and silver. The queen also sends the girl out with a maidservant, as was befitting her status. What the queen does not know is that the maidservant has other ideas.

Twice on the journey, the princess asks the maidservant to get her water from a stream using her gold cup so that she may drink. Both times, the maidservant refuses and is very rude to the princess. The princess ignores the rudeness and dismounts her horse to get her own water, as the maidservant suggests. Depending on the version of the story, the queen gives the princess some kind of item for protection–often it is a handkerchief. The third time that the princess asks for water and is refused, she gets down once again to get her own water, but this last time she loses the handkerchief in the water. After that she no longer has her mother’s protection.

The maidservant then forces the princess to switch clothes and roles with her. So the maidservant presents herself and the princess and the princess is forced to become a servant. When they arrive, the false princess asked the prince and the king to give her servant something to do. They don’t have much work to offer the debased princess, so they send her to help the boy who herds the geese and that is why this tale is called The Goose Girl.

Come back on Friday to read about how The Goose Girl uses gold to help her gain her freedom and right the wrongs that were done to her by the maidservant.

Since gold can be used to make all manner of containers, it is only fitting that somebody would come up with a gold beer mug. A Japanese company has created a gold beer mug that has 850g of gold. But don’t imagine that you will be able to buy one of these beer mugs from just any old store–this gold drinking receptacle has been valued at $50,000.

One staff member from the firm that created these beer mugs acknowledged that while beer is enjoyable to drink on its own, drinking it from the gold beer mug that his company has created is a whole new experience. (Of course they would say that.) Although, just the thought that you are drinking beer from a mug made of the world’s favorite precious metal just might be enough to make the beer taste a lot better. After drinking beer from a gold mug, you might not want to drink beer from a regular mug again. And you do not have to drink beer to have this remarkable experience since the gold beer mug is only one item in a collection that includes gold wine glasses. The gold wine glasses are priced at $30 per gram.

Of course drinking from objects made of gold is certainly not a new phenomenon. As soon as people realized that gold was malleable, gold cutlery and serving objects were probably formed since eating is one the central activities of human live. Since ancient times, people have washed down banquets with beverages contained in gold goblets. And of course being able to drink from something made of gold was just as much a signal of one’s wealth as being able to wear gold jewelry that only served as adornment.

Gold is so versatile that the gold that once served only as decoration or the gold that was used to serve drinks can also serve to improve one’s finances. Once gold is fashioned into an object, it is used for those purposes for as long as the owner thinks necessary. If you think your gold cups or gold jewelry are no longer useful in their original function, you can sell gold to get cash for gold that you can use as you wish. And then the gold that you sell to a gold buyer will be melted down and used for some other purpose.

Not too long ago we told you that some companies are organizing gold prospecting vacations so that you can use your getaway as a time to gather some gold that you can sell to get cash for gold.

Well, if gold panning can be the central activity for a summer vacation, then it can also be the focal point for a children’s workshop, right? In Pennsylvania, kids got together to not only learn about panning for gold and how to use metal detectors, they also had the opportunity to gets on hands-on experience with these activities.

As a demonstration, one of the children’s guides mixed together sand, minerals and gold flakes. This was to show the childen how the gold would drop to the bottom while the other materials were removed. These same children will continue their summer gold panning odyssey at at lease one other location this summer.

It is never too early to learn about precious metals and get an appreciation for what it takes to extract them from the earth. Gold is shiny and pretty, but we cannot get to it without some effort. Surely, the children who were able to see firsthand what it takes to get gold left with a greater appreciation for the gold jewelry they see in stores, at home and perhaps wear themselves.

Even if you never get to go out panning for gold, we imagine that you too have an appreciation for the value of gold. This is why you likely are considering selling your gold to a gold buyer. You know that gold prices are higher now than they have been in a long time.

A couple who have been married for 68 years were very grateful when someone called in a man with a metal detector to find the wife’s gold ring.

While waiting at a bus stop in Florida with her 92-year-old husband, an 88-year-old woman lost her gold wedding ring, as she was trying to swat away overgrown grass. She got down on her knees in the grass to try to find the gold ring and even went to a gas station to get scissors that she could use to cut away some of the grass. Her husband, took a different approach: he told her that he would be her another one. But his wife really wanted to have her gold ring back.

The lost gold ring had diamond studs and it was not the ring the man had given his wife when they first got married. When they first got married, the wife wore an unadorned gold ring. They married four month after being introduced by a mutual friend when she was 19. When they were married for two years, the husband got a salary increase because the wife got pregnant: he got $2 more dollars because of his growing family and his pay went from $29 to $31.

After 12 years of marriage the pair decided they had enough money to get the wife a new gold wedding ring–one that was a little more decorative. Wonder what they did with the first gold ring? The could have  decided to sell it to a gold buyer to get cash for gold? Possibly.

Part of the reason that the couple had more money to spare was that the wife was now working also. She was a seamstress for a famous designer and since she did not want to be parted from her new gold ring, she wore it on the job. That gold ring stayed put for years. The wife was wearing that gold wedding ring when she worked on the outfit that Nancy Regan wore to Ronald Reagan’s first presidential inauguration. She had worn that gold ring through many years and could not bear to give up the search, but the couple had to catch their bus and so they returned home. The man with the metal detector personally delivered the gold ring that had taken him ten minutes to find.

Last week, we told you about how gold jewelry that was intended for Pope Pius IX was going on sale. Since the gold was aboard a ship that did not make it to its destination, the pope was never able to really enjoy this gift. This is a shame since this pope was known for his devotion to the arts and his patronage of artisans and people who created things of beauty.

The transfer method of a gift of gold that was destined for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was much more reliable. Last week a gold watch that at one time belonged to Roosevelt also went up for auction. Unlike the gift of gold jewelry that Pope Pius IX did not get to see, Roosevelt did get to see this timepiece. He received the gold watch as a gift when he turned 63 years old. Roosevelt’s 63rd birthday was actually his last.

It is also interesting to note that Roosevelt had a very important connection to gold. It was FDR’s administration that ended the gold standard for the United States. When FDR ran for president, he ran on a platform that highlighted his willingness to break with the past, and that past included the gold standard.  At one time using gold as the backing for currency was the only way to go, but as we all know, everything, even those things that seem permanent change.

Other countries had already got off the gold standard, while America continued to use gold to back its currency. Prices were going down and deflation was taking a serious toll on the American economy in those days. The dollar was expensive in comparison to the currencies of other countries that no longer used the gold standard. Prices for American products were much higher in comparison to products from other countries. The decline in sales that was tied to the higher cost of American products was one of the reasons that companies shuttered factories and had to let many workers go.

While our economy is no longer based on the gold standard, you may still find that gold can boost your personal economy. When you sell gold to a gold buyer, you will find that the cash for gold you get does great things for your finances.

If you think you want to sell gold, what are you waiting for? Even gold jewelry that once destined for a pope is going on sale. The sale of such a high profile set of gold jewelry has made headlines; you are free to contact a gold buyer to sell gold with less fuss. Now the fact that this gold jewelry was meant for the Pope and he never received it may be a contributing factor to its sale…it is possible that had the gold jewelry actually been delivered to the Pope, it wouldn’t be up for purchase. Still, at a time when gold prices are quite high, there are few things that are off limits–getting cash for gold often outweighs the desire to hold on to the gold itself. Quiet as it is kept, many wealthy and influential people are selling their gold jewelry and other luxury items–they are just making sure that this information is kept out of the news.

In the case of the gold jewelry that was meant to be a gift to Pope  Pius IX, he never received the gold because it was on a ship that sank in 1869. The four gold chains, which were made my hand, were among the items on the ship General Abatucci. Of course, the loss of the gold was not nearly as devastating as the loss of about half of the ships passengers and crew.

Pope Pius IX was known to be very interested in the arts. He was a benefactor for artists of all types: sculptors, painters, architects, musicians, coppersmiths and of course, goldsmiths. He enacted the restoration of many historic structures and saw to it that the crumbling Colosseum was fortified. It was during his time as pope that the Callisto catacombs were discovered–there catacombs brought to light artwork and writings that had been lost to the world before that time. So it is fitting that gold jewelry that was meant for him finally be salvaged and brought to light for people of our day to enjoy.

For those who are interested in the jewelry-making techniques of days past, the fact that these gold chains have been salvaged is an opportunity to get a look at some exquisite craftmanship. As you can imagine gold jewelry that was meant for the Pope had to be of the highest quality. Whoever was charged with making gold jewelry for a Pope, especially a Pope known to have a discriminating eye, had to have been a jeweler with an excellent reputation. This person would have to have been very creative and detail-oriented.

You’ve probably been to one of those places that is set up with people living as they did in days gone by, These parks and museums promise you an old-fashioned experience–letting you try your hand at churning butter or making candles. You can participate in the kinds of activities that are not a part of most of your daily lives  in the 21st century. It gives you a bit of a taste of what life was like and how hard people had to work to get certain things without the technological advances that we have now.

However, there are some “old-fashioned” activities that are still relevant today and bring much the same reward now as they did then. One of these activities is panning for gold. There are places in Alaska and Canada that will let you prospect for gold. There is also a gold mine in Georgia that first operated during the gold rush era and then opened to the public on 1969. In this era of reduced budgets and “staycations” some people are opting for a change of scenery that they hope will be lucrative as well as somewhat relaxing.

When you go to prospect for gold, you can camp out at a minimal cost, so you do not have to worry that all of your funds will go toward lodging and food. Another benefit to taking a vacation to pan for gold is that the actual practice of prospecting is good exercise. You will not have to worry about gaining weight because you are eating a lot of heavy meals and lounging by the pool or on the beach. Instead, you can return from vacation lean and mean, and perhaps with some gold or cash for gold to boot. How many vacations have you had where you were able to return having said that you were able to make some money while you were on your break? Probably not too many.  It is more likely that you worried over the costs of hotel and lodging and then worried over what you were spending while you were away. This is your opportunity to take a break from your life and make a profit at the same time. If you find enough of the precious metal and want to sell gold, you can contact a gold buyer. It will be your best vacation ever.

A man in Hawaii has the ultimate story about how he caught a fish that was “this big.” After a friend issued this man a challenge, he managed to use stick of bamboo to catch a fish that was swimming near the place where they were on a picnic.

The fish that the man caught was a good size–it was ten inches in length. What they could not measure was the fish’s girth. The impromptu fisherman noticed that the fish he caught had a a rather large stomach. He had thrown the fish into a cooler with some other frozen meat and closed it. When the cooler was opened again not to long after, there was a gold watch lying next to the fish’s mouth. The man remarked that the gold watch was not only still operating, it actually still gave the correct time. Imagine that! You know that old slogan about the watches that “keep on tickin’.” This gold watch was still working presumably after hitting the water and being swallowed by a fish. Who knows all of the things that were inside that fish that could have damaged the gold watch. Whatever was in there, that gold watch was so well made, that none of these things affected it to the point where it stopped working.

Of all the places for a person to find gold, this man caught a fish that had swallowed a gold watch. This man was not even really expecting to go fishing that day. In addition to that, when he did decide to go fishing, he really only expected the pull a fish out of the water. And really, there was no guarantee that he would even get that because he was not sure that fishing with a bamboo stick would yield a fish. So for those of you who want to sell gold, but fear that you have none to sell, there really is nothing to fear. You certainly cannot “find” gold at someone else’s house, but you never know where you will find gold. It may be hidden in some unexpected place in your own house. Or, as the story of the man in Hawaii shows, you may find gold in the most unexpected places. And when you do, as long as no one else has a claim to it, you can get cash for gold from a gold buyer.