Golden Oxen's First Amendment Forum

But of course I speak of health benefits, and not in paying our doctors fees.

Well, to start with, the reason why gold is so valued is because it does not corrode, and that is because it is chemically inert.  Healthwise, that means that anything pure gold touching your body will not cause a reaction, most notably rings and teeth fillings.  Conversely, if you do get a reaction from jewelry, you can be pretty sure it is not pure gold.  Gold nanoparticles are also being investigated for delivering drugs.

Many health benefits are claimed for when you take silver and make it "colloidal", which means breaking it up into particles between 1 nanometer and 1 micrometer and suspending it in another substance, but they are of questionable value.  One well-documented and long-practiced use for silver is to inactivate bacteria in water, making it safer to drink.  This is why people started putting coins in fountains.

You can find more info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_uses_of_silver and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloidal_gold#Medical_research .