Why the name ‘Good As Gold’?

When I set up Good As Gold in 2008, I was living in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, surrounded by shops and studios dealing in precious metals and gems. I was keen to have something sparkly in my business name.

As a person who trades in words, and who enjoys the dynamism of the English language, I also liked that the phrase ‘as good as gold’ has changed in meaning over time.

Today we associate it with obedience and good manners - thanks in no small part to Charles Dickens. In A Christmas Carol, Bob Cratchit assures Mrs Cratchit that their son Tiny Tim’s behaviour was ‘as good as gold … and better’.

But that wasn’t the original meaning. The phrase ‘as good as gold’ first came about when promissory bank notes began replacing gold or silver coins. Because paper money has no intrinsic value, to say it was ‘as good as gold’ was to say it was worth as much, or as genuine as, gold.

When establishing my business, I reasoned that well-crafted words can be as valuable as gold to an organisation. I duly stuffed my earliest website with metaphors about sparkling content and 24-carat copywriting.

If I started over today, I would probably choose a different name altogether. But it’s stuck. I’m Good As Gold. Well-mannered: absolutely. Genuine - of course. But obedient? Hmm!