Sanat Kumar, professor of chemical engineering at Columbia University.

Sanat Kumar, professor of chemical engineering at Columbia University. / NPR

In the past few months, the price of gold has gone way up – even hitting a new high last month at just over $2,400 per troy ounce.

Gold has long had a shiny quality to it, literally and in the marketplace. And we wondered, why is that?

Today on the show, we revisit a Planet Money classic episode: Why Gold? Jacob Goldstein and David Kestenbaum will peruse the periodic table of the elements with one goal in mind: to learn which element would really make the best money.

This classic Planet Money episode was part of the Planet Money Buys Gold series, and was hosted by Jacob Goldstein and David Kestenbaum.

This rerun was hosted by Sally Helm, produced by Willa Rubin, edited by Keith Romer, and fact-checked by Sierra Juarez. Alex Goldmark is our executive producer.

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Music: Universal Music Production - "I Don't Do Gossip," "All The Time," and "Slide By Slide."

Tags: Planet Money  gold  Gold Standard  price of gold  Planet Money Buys Gold  Series: Planet Money Buys Gold