Discovery of Darius' Gold and Silver Plates

Date: July 31, 1938 • Location: Seyedan, Iran, Islamic Republic of

Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.

Gold is a chemical element; its chemical symbol is Au and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a bright-metallic-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal, a group 11 element, and one of the noble metals. It is one of the least reactive chemical elements, being the second lowest in the reactivity series, with only platinum ranked as less reactive. Gold is solid under standard conditions.