Comments by "DynamicWorlds" (@dynamicworlds1) on "Legends Summarized: El Dorado" video.

  1. The colonizers did however, manage to find enough silver to crash their economy back home because they didn't understand how to manage inflation.
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  2.  @derskalde4973  "The small grains of platinum were mixed with a little gold dust and small portions placed upon a piece of wet charcoal; when the gold runs it will coat the grains of platinum with gold . . . the grains are simply ‘soldered together’. If the piece is now further heated by means of the blowpipe, . . . a portion of the fused gold permeates the platinum and simultaneously a little of the latter is dissolved in the molten gold. This mixture of gold and platinum can now withstand a light blow of the hammer, especially when hot; by alternately forging and heating it is possible gradually to build up an homogeneous mixture. All the specimens found are small, which is natural, since they cannot be larger if they are to be exposed to the maximum degree of heat that can be produced from a bit of charcoal and a blowpipe.” https://www.technology.matthey.com/article/24/2/70-79/ (The powder was naturally occuring much like the flecks of gold found when panning) See also: sintering
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  3.  @derskalde4973  np, you perked my curiosity and figgured I'd share. Low tech metallurgy is an interesting subject analyzing with modern understanding the creative solutions people were coming up with when they didn't understand the elements they were working with and often weren't even able to produce temperatures high enough to melt the metals they were working with. I'm normally learning about it through the metallurgy for weapons (steel and bronze), so I didn't know this one either, but found it no less interesting.
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  4. Red, you missed one very important detail: they did manage to find enough silver to crash their economy because they didn't understand how to handle inflation (which, ironically, probably fueled their drive for gold even more). Otherwise great video with a lot I didn't know. https://youtu.be/rjhIzemLdos
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