The Gilded Age ended on this day in 1933, the end of the gold standard in the US. Gold had dominated monetary systems for about a hundred years, the thinking being that limiting money to the supply of gold would enforce discipline on the various governments. Of course, they all dropped the gold standard like a hot rock whenever they went to war, and its inflexibility meant there was no way to counter swings in the business cycle so the US suffered three depressions during the reign of the soft yellow metal. Gold is still pleasant to heft in the hand, beautiful things are made from it, and of course it's been a topic of discussion for millennia.
Here are some memorable quotes on gold:
Art is like baby shoes. When you coat them with gold, they can no longer be worn.
– John Updike
Truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.
– Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy, 1828 – 1910
Everything has its limit – iron ore cannot be educated into gold.
– Mark Twain, 1835 – 1910
Gold is a treasure, and he who possesses it does all he wishes to in this world, and succeeds in helping souls into paradise.
– Christopher Columbus, 1451 – 1506
Gold like the sun, which melts wax, but hardens clay, expands great souls.
– Antoine de Rivarol, 1753 – 1801
Gold that's put to use more gold begets.
– William Shakespeare, 1564 – 1616