Gold was as similar to the Incas as fine wool

The Incas did not know the meaning of money. Gold was sacred and reserved for the gentry, similar to the fine wool of the best lama species (Vicunas). They estimated as a gift of the gods and the image of the sun, from which it was born. The brilliance and converting were important, but not the amount of the gold. Razor-thin gold masks had been regarded as precious as massive big cups or crowns. The Spanish often had to melt down hundreds of pieces of jewellery to send a gold bar to their king. The exposed treasures are evidence of this.