The story of Nicola Flamel, a humble scribe from Paris, is still a mystery. There is a legend that this man, back in the 14th century, solved the secret that has been stirring people's minds for centuries - the possibility of artificially making gold.
It all began with the fact that an ancient manuscript with incomprehensible signs and symbols fell into the hands of Flamel. The scribe tried to decipher the text for more than 20 years, but to no avail. None of the experts in the ancient languages to which Flamel turned could help. I had to travel even outside France.
Only in Spain, where Nicola Flamel had been looking for the right person for two years, he was lucky - he met a real connoisseur of the ancient Hebrew language. The scientist, having learned about the ancient manuscript, immediately went with Flamel to Paris; the scribe did not dare to take the ancient folio with him to Spain.
But the rabbi did not manage to get to Paris: on the way he fell ill and died in Orleans. True, while on the road, he managed to reveal to Flamel the meaning of many signs of ancient Hebrew symbolism. Armed with this knowledge, Flamel proceeded to decipher the manuscript. His works were not in vain: on January 17, 1382, Nicola was able to get silver from mercury, and soon his experiments in making gold were crowned with success.
Maybe this is just a legend? Perhaps, but then it is even more difficult to explain the fact how a humble copyist of books in a short time became one of the wealthiest people in France? In 1382, Flamel within a few months became the owner of about 30 houses and plots of land. At his own expense, he built several churches, maintained orphanages and hospitals, donated fabulous sums to help the poor. Nicola Flamel died in 1419, bequeathed all his fortune to charity. Until 1789, in the church of Saint-Jacques-la-Bouchery, where Flamel was buried, a procession was held annually to pray for the soul of the patron.
Unsurprisingly, Flamel's home has become a cherished target for treasure seekers. The new owners searched every corner here, but to no avail. It was not possible to find anything, just as it was not possible to solve the riddle: did Flamel really know the secret of obtaining gold from mercury?
Centuries passed, and at the very end of the 19th century, the chemist Stephen Emmens made a sensational statement that he had managed to obtain a substance almost identical to gold. It was made of silver, and Emmens called it "argentaurum". Three test bars were carefully tested in one of the US laboratories and purchased at the price of real gold.
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True, the chemist said in an interview that he did not intend to let the "argentaurum" into mass production, as this would undermine the economy of the whole world. But he agreed to hold a public demonstration of the experience in Paris at the 1900 World's Fair. Alas, not long before the session, the scientist disappeared without a trace - it is possible that someone considered his invention too dangerous.
In order not to mislead, we remind our readers that, from the point of view of modern science, obtaining gold from mercury is possible using nuclear reactions. This was scientifically substantiated and experimentally proven back in the 40s of the last century. But such an isotope turns out to be unstable and decays quickly, and the costs of its production exceed the market value of natural gold by hundreds of times.