The blunt, vague name of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s new exhibit raises the question: What exactly does “Gold” entail?
Are we talking gold records and Academy Awards? Vegas-style golden nuggets? Ancient necklaces and cultural artifacts? Computer innards?
Try all of the above.
At least $30 million worth of gold, or more than a ton, will be on display at the museum through June 8 — the largest collection ever to be exhibited, according to organizers.
It spans the spectrum of uses and forms for this most iconic of precious metals.
“It’s surprisingly challenging to describe,” said Josyln Schoemer, director of temporary exhibitions. “It takes about four or five sentences even to do it the barest bit of justice because there is such a diversity of materials.”
Indeed, a walk-through of the exhibit last week revealed Nobel Prize medallions and sacred religious symbols, hulking chunks of unrefined ore and doubloons from sunken Spanish galleons. The public will have a chance to see them all when the exhibit opens today for a four-month run.
The exhibit starts with gold’s unique physical properties, offering more than 80 natural specimens and nodding to its extraordinary density, malleability and conductivity. The amount of gold in three U.S. half-dollar coins, for example, can be pounded thin enough to cover the walls in a 300-square-foot room.
“It’s so soft and easy to work with,” said Paul Morgan, curator of geology. “From the beginning that was good and bad news. We didn’t have a Golden Age because it’s not abundant and would make a terrible knife or an ax. But it makes fantastic jewelry because it doesn’t tarnish. There are great medical and technological uses because of that as well.”
The exhibit is based on a similar one that originated in Houston and traveled to New York, but the Denver Museum of Nature & Science has added extra specimens, sections and multiple “enhancements” that allow visitors to get hands-on, face-to-face experiences.
A specialized scale reveals your own weight in gold, and mining-related exhibits, activities and demonstrations delve deeper into gold’s role in Colorado history.
“Culturally, it’s everything from displacement of Native Americans and the European influence to the immigration, which was huge in Colorado due to mining,” said Schoemer.
But the real price of gold must be measured in more than just dollar signs, particularly as it relates to the environmental toll we exact.
“In Colorado, we typically dig up 33 tons of rock for 1 ounce of gold. We do that because we need gold or we want gold,” said Paul Morgan. “As a geologist I feel kind of responsible for what we do to the Earth, but I also recognize that we do things because there’s a demand. Gold is one of the ultimate expressions of that.”
Most cultures do the same for just about every other precious metal. In fact, 78 percent of all gold is used in jewelry.
“We have to ask ourselves when we complain about mining — should we be questioning the miner or the jewelry wearer?” Morgan said.
The largest piece in the exhibit, the 56-pound Normandy Nugget, is second only to the Hand of Faith as the largest publicly displayed gold nugget in the world (the latter is housed, appropriately, at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas). Naturally, an exhibit this valuable required a security boost.
“Most of our exhibitions include beautiful and rare objects, but gold is particular because of its recognized currency,” said Schoemer.
While she would not reveal the insurance value or the amount of extra security, she did say 230 extra volunteers went through 12-hour training sessions to assist visitors.
“For me this is a natural history museum at its best because it’s synthesizing a whole range of fields,” said Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh, curator of anthropology at the museum.
“It’s not looking at something just as pretty rocks, it’s looking at what happens when humans create something from this amazing geological phenomenon.”
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com
“Gold”
Museum exhibit. Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd. Today-June 8. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. $4-$20. 800-925-2250 or .
