Nothing Gold can stay or bring you happiness (apparently)

This week, I was struck by Namantius' description of what he believes to be the best and worst metals in the world.  In a remarkable digression based solely on him catching sight of the iron rich island of Elba, the poet provides his moral and personal opinion on how much better iron was for the human race rather than gold.  For Namantius, gold is forever connected with greed and vices, whether it be bribing the guards of a city to gain entrance or using one's wealth to gain favor for political office.  However, iron, despite its use in war and bloodshed, remains favorable in the poet's eyes and even brought about the (correct?) way of living first (via vivendi).  The poet's distinction between metals also remains at odds with many other authors (Hesiod and Ovid to name a few) where once any metal was mined from the earth, that signified the end of the truly glorious and peaceful times.  The weapons and tools made from iron that are seen as so unnecessary in those earlier ages, as the earth provided everything that humans need are quite necessary in Namantius' eyes, especially for defence and perhaps even hunting.  It would be interesting as well to discover how silver is viewed by the poet as, like gold, it was mined in extreme quantities, most notably in northern Greece by Philip II, and was used primarily for its aesthetic and rare qualities.