How much Gold did the Romans have - and where is it now?

Summary by Krater

This video investigates whether modern smartphones contain gold originating from ancient Rome, examining the total quantity of gold in the Roman Empire, trade routes, mine output, and gold loss over time.

From the video

Answers: Is there Roman gold in your smartphone?

• Roman gold mining and supply
• Ancient trade routes and gold export
• Gold recycling in antiquity
• Estimation of Roman gold quantities
• Smartphone recycling of ancient gold

What it concludes

• About 1,000 tons of gold can be called Roman over the course of Roman history.
• The odds of your smartphone containing an appreciable amount of classical gold are not fantastic, but nor are they zero.