All your Silver and Gold Quiz Answer

We hope you enjoyed challenging your gold & silver knowledge. Regardless of your score, some of the answers are fascinating and demonstrate what incredible substances gold and silver are.

Understanding their rarity, industrial uses and history, goes some way towards comprehending their ongoing allure and appeal.

Quiz question 1  Q1: What’s the average gold/Silver ratio over the past century

a.18:1                         b. 47:1                         c. 82:1

Answer: b. 47:1

In 2018 the ratio has widened to an incredible 80:1, representing a huge undervaluation and buying opportunity for silver. Official ratios started way back in    1792 when US law fixed it at 15:1

 

Q2: How much of the UK’s gold reserves did Gordon Brown sell?

a. 75 tons             b. 182 tons         c. 395 tons

Answer: c. 395 tons               

His offloading of the countries treasures took place over 17 auctions and two and a half years. With gold’s low point hitting $252/oz in 1999, the chancellor achieved an average price of $275. The metal now trades well above $1,100/oz

Gold & Silver quizQ3: All the gold that has ever be mined in history would fit in?

a. Half the Mediterranean Sea        b. The River Thames        c. 3 Olympic sized pools

Answer: c. 3 swimming pools.

The world has mined 166,500 tons of gold. If all the gold was melted down, it would fit in 3 Olympic sized swimming pools. Only a small portion of that gold is held in government hands. Most of it is in private hands with a tiny bit being used in industry. Visualcapitalist.com has some amazing graphics showing how much gold has been mined and compare it to everyday objects.

Q4: The best conductor of electricity is;

How to buy silver in bulk

a. Palladium             b. silver                c. aluminium

Answer: b. silver  

In fact silver is the most conductive of all the elements, making it the preferred choice for all things electrical. Silver’s predominant use in mobile phones, switches and computers is fuelling it’s growing industrial demand.

Gold & Silver quiz

Q5: The largest gold nugget ever found in the earth weighed

a. 42 troy ounces         b. 912 troy ounces           c. 2,520 troy ounces

Answer: c. 2,520 troy ounces 

This incredible find dates back to 1869 in the great gold rush era. The huge nugget, weighing 173 lbs, was the same weight as an average man. No surprise it was referred to as ‘Welcome Stranger’!

 

10 commandments when selling gold coins

Q6: The largest producer of silver in the world is; Gold & Silver Quiz

a. Mexico                b. Russia                     c. United States

Answer:               a. Mexico

The new world dominate in silver production, with Peru taking the second slot. Actually around 65% of all silver produced is as a by-product of zinc, copper and lead mining.

gold discovery

Q7: What’s the average time it takes to sell gold after it’s first discovered?

a. 18 months      b. 7 years                    c. 15 years

Answer: b. 7 years

Discovering gold is only the first part in the logistical challenge. The huge cost and bureaucracy of mining the gold takes another 7 years. This includes building the mine, recruiting and housing staff and completing all legal requirements. This provides us with a window into future gold supply. We know that any major discoveries won’t hit the market for at least 7 years.

Q8: How much is the most valuable gold coin worth? Gold & Silver Quiz

a. £450,000          b. £4.5million              c.$45million

Answer: c. $45million

In 2011 an Australian Kangaroo coin claimed the Guinness world title of largest coin, weighing a mammoth 1 ton with a purity of 99.99%. That is 32,000 ounces of gold. While the coin’s face value is a nice round $1 million dollars, the gold content alone is worth nearly $45 million dollars.

Gold & Silver quizQ9: Real silver was used in British ‘silver’ coins up until..

a. 1935                b. 1947                        c.1971

Answer: b. 1947   

They then switched to using cupro-nickel to reduce cost and prolong the lifetime of the coins.

 

Q10: Gold comes from… Gold & Silver

a. Meteors             b. Water                       c. Lightning

Answer: a. Meteors  

Around 4 billion years ago the earth was bombarded by a meteor shower which lasted an incredible 200 million years. These meteors contained many metals including gold and silver. The gold, mixed with iron sunk through the earth’s outer layer to predominantly rest in the core. While a majority of the gold remains there, untouchable, we fight to mine the veins of gold nearer to the surface.

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Gold & Silver quizQ11: Gold’s boiling point is;

a. 312 degrees c         b. 14,800 degrees c                c. 2,808 degrees c

Answer: c. 2,808 degrees centigrade

 

Q12: The gold in Fort Knox weighs; Gold & Silver quiz

a. 8 million tonnes          b. 124,000 tonnes            c.  4,600 tonnes

Answer: c. 4,600 tonnes

Perhaps alot less gold than people imagine.

 

8. Bolivia The silver output of Bolivia remained steady at 1,300 metric tonnes between 2015 and 2016, although there is still room for expansion of the country’s silver industry. Bolivia has several silver mines, especially in the Potosi region. Besides, the San Cristobal mine is the third largest silver reserve of any mine globally, and is operated by Sumitomo. 7. Poland In 2016, Poland’s output was 1,400 metric tonnes, matching Australia’s output. This was an increase of 220 metric tonnes from 2015. Poland based silver producing company, Polka Meidsz, is one of the world’s leading silver producers. A survey by Silver Institute of Poland shows that the country can raise its production capacity by expanding its mining companies. 6. Russia Russia’s output sunk to 1,400 MT in 2016 from 1,430 MT in 2015. Although Russia’s silver reserves are not known, it has been among the top producers of silver for years. Polymetal International is Russia’s largest silver producer. The company dominates silver mining across Russia and operates four of the top five silver mines in the country. In 2016, Polymetal generated 7 million ounces – a 3 percent drop from 2015. 5. Australia In 2016, Australia’s mines churned out 1,400 metric tonnes of silver, which was a slight drop from 1,430 metric tonnes in 2015. That drop positioned Australia as the fifth-largest producer of silver in the world. Despite that, Australia has a rich history of silver mining, which dates back to the 1920s when BHP Billiton started there as a silver operation. To this day, BHP Billiton a huge mining company with outlets dotted in different countries. It is Australia’s largest silver producer, and operates Queensland’s Cannington mine, which leads in silver production than any other mine in Australia. 4. Chile Chile takes the fourth position; it produced 1,500 metric tonnes in 2016 up from 1,380 metric tonnes in 2015. That rise catapulted Chile from the fifth to the fourth largest producer of silver in the world. In the next three years, Chile’s government has decided to raise the production by creating new strategies and rolling out extraction plans that would be more cost effective and energy efficient. 3. China China took the fourth position in terms of silver production back in 2002, and it earned the title: “solid mid-tier producer of silver.” Ever since, China’s production has gradually increased placing it in the third position of top silver producers in the world. China produced 3,600 metric tonnes of silver in 2016. A large percentage of China’s development can be attributed to its other mining operations – in 2012, almost 95 percent of China’s silver production resulted from other mining projects. Silvercorp Metals is China’s largest silver producer. It owns numerous mines in the country, and on June 30, 2017, it announced a sale of 1.5 million ounces of silver. 2. Peru Other than being the second-largest producer of silver, with an output of 4,100 metric tonnes in 2016, Peru has some of the largest silver reserves in the world. With about 120,000 known metric tonnes of silver, Peru has a colossal potential of untapped silver that could see it climb the global rankings in future. Most of Peru’s silver originates from the Antamina mine situated in Northern Peru. This mine is jointly owned by BHP Billiton, Glencore, Mitsubishi, and Teck Resources. Whilst this mine generates more silver than other mines in Peru, it is mainly a copper mine. Silver is therefore a by-product of the copper mining process. Fortuna Silver Mines is a fast-growing company in silver production, and has two operating mines, one located in Peru. In 2016, the company reported 7,380,217 ounces of silver production. 1. Mexico Mexico is the leading silver producing country in the world and has maintained this position for 7 consecutive years. In 2016, its output shot to 5,600 metric tonnes. This was up by 230 metric tonnes from 2015. Fresnillo, the world’s most productive silver companies is located in Mexico. Fresnillo extracts gold and silver at six mines in Mexico, and has many other projects at different phases of development. By the end of June 2017, Mexico had produced 28.04 million ounces of silver, which is an 11 percent increment from what it produced in the first half of 2016.

Q13: Silver was first discovered;

a. 3000 BC                 b. 5000 BC                   c. 92 AD

Answer: b. 5000 BC  

While silver was discovered in 5000 BC, it took a while for humans to use it. Archaeologists have found objects made from silver which have been dated back as far as 4000 BC and it’s estimated it took another 1000 years for mankind to learn to seperate it from lead.

 

Q14: One cubic foot of gold weighs

a. 1,187 pounds              b.11,870 pounds                     c. 118,700 pounds

Answer: a. 1,187 pounds

Gold is actually the heaviest and densest of all metals in the Periodic table

Gold & Silver quizQ15: The last country to use a gold standard was;

a. South Africa           b. Switzerland             c. USA

Answer: b. Switzerland

The European country famous for mountains, chocolate and cheese, backed up 40% of its money supply with gold until 1999.

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Q16: On the official scale of conductivity, gold ranks 76 out of 100 (with zero being least conductive). Silver ranks; Gold & Silver quiz

a. 72                  b. 88                      c. 100

Answer: c. 100

In fact, silver is used as the standard to which other conductors are measured. This explains why silver is used so extensively in electricals.

 

Gold & Silver quiz

Q17: The highest price for a gold coin ever sold was;

a. $242,000        b. $1.26 million           c. $7.59 million

Answer: c. $7.59 million

This was paid for a 1933 rare Double Eagle coin, which sold in 2002.

 

Q18: The world’s deepest mine is; Gold & Silver quiz

a. 800 metres deep         b.2.5 miles deep         c. 96 miles deep

Answer: b. 2.5 miles deep

The Mponeng mine, as deep as ten Empire State buildings standing on top of each other, is located in South Africa

 

Gold & Silver quizQ19: The biggest consumer of gold in the world is;

a. China              b. India                  c. America

Answer: a. China  

Just like so many other areas of consumption and production, China are the merging power. They took over the helm from India in 2013, and account for 30% of the global jewellery demand alone.

 

Q20: Which wedding anniversary is known as a ‘Silver anniversary’?

a. 10                  b. 20                   c. 25

Answer:  c. 25

Other notable wedding milestones are Wooden (5th), tin (10), crystal (15), Ruby (40), Gold (50th) and diamond (60th). Tradition suggests that a present made from the corresponding material should be given to your spouse on each relevant anniversary.