Stepping into the "Gold" exhibit at the Anchorage Museum, you might feel like Aladdin as he entered the Cave of Wonders. The walls are dark, but everything inside glows as if it were alive. Among the first wonders you encounter is a sparkling natural nugget, about as long as a human hand, shaped like a gentle "S."

"Big nuggets are usually named for their shape," said Suzi Jones, the museum's deputy director. "This one's called 'The Seahorse.' "

It also resembles a dollar sign, making it a good symbol for the two key attributes of gold: beauty and wealth.

There's plenty of both to behold when the museum reopens at noon Saturday. "Gold," a traveling exhibit from the American Museum of Natural History, was created in collaboration with the Houston Museum of Natural Science. It was selected as a special show to coincide with the opening of the museum's $106 million new wing, Jones said, in part because "We hoped the dazzling, brilliant display would reflect our dazzling, brilliant new building."

The show will remain on display through Aug. 2. For most of that time, visitors will have to buy a special exhibit ticket in addition to museum admission. But for the grand reopening celebration tomorrow, the public is invited to take a look for free.

The exhibit -- combining geology, metallurgy and anthropology -- is laid out in several sections, starting with a display of gold as it occurs in nature as ore, nuggets, flakes and crystals. The science of the element is explained: how deposits are formed, its atomic structure, conductivity and other properties.

The amazing malleability of gold is made graphic by a 300-square-foot room entirely covered by three ounces of the element -- the equivalent of three pre-1980 Krugerrands. The metal can be pounded so thin you can look through it, as shown in an astronaut's helmet where the see-through visor is coated in gold. Hands-on displays will let visitors get magnified views of gold-bearing rocks and check out how gold panning works.

The exhibit includes a description of major gold rushes around the world, from California to South Africa. "Paydirt," an adjacent display put together by the Anchorage Museum, deals with the Klondike and Alaska gold rushes. There are photos and artifacts -- pokes, nuggets, scales, a fabulous nugget watch chain once owned by a Skagway gambler -- from the glory days of the Chilkoot Pass, Nome and the doomed Treadwell Mine in Douglas.

During the course of the show, two 15-minute Alaska-themed plays will be presented as part of the tour. One deals with a sourdough who attempted to ride a bike to the Nome gold fields; the other revolves around a cribbage board by the Native artist known as Happy Jack. An actual ivory cribbage board by Happy Jack is part of the exhibit.

Ancient pieces -- some thousands of years old -- occupy a big part of the show, with ornaments from Greece, Africa, Asia and the Mideast. Gold decorations and jewelry from the Americas are included, from extremely rare Inca and Aztec pieces to modern cigarette lighters and even a gold baby rattle.

One section deals with gold salvaged from shipwrecks. "Shipwrecks are a major source of old gold," Jones explained.

Antique gold is easily pounded out and reused. The Spaniards, for example, after parading their Aztec spoils around Europe, melted most of it into bullion that was then turned into coins.

Speaking of coinage, there's a lot of it behind the stout Plexiglas cases: money from the reigns of Alexander the Great and Emperor Nero, guilders, doubloons and American eagles. Gold bricks too, including a modern delivery bar and a big ingot from the California Gold Rush worth $1.25 million.

The exit from the show -- by way of a gift shop -- is lined with modern "artifacts" using the metal: a gold record presented to the family of rocker Buddy Holly, an Oscar awarded to Susan Sarandon, a Golden Globe given to Harrison Ford, Emmys given to Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw.

And, having opened with "The Seahorse," the exhibit ends with a prize won by a race horse. The last thing on display is the Hollywood Gold Cup won in 1951 by Triple Crown winner Citation.

The exhibit notes that this cup made Citation "the first millionaire horse."

While the whole exhibit is clearly valued at many times Citation's net worth, Jones declined to put a dollar amount on it. She said she didn't know how much it was insured for, since the insurance was handled by the museum that loaned it to Anchorage. "It's worth its weight in gold," was all she'd volunteer.

"Gold" is the first touring exhibit in the museum's new wing. The advanced security and environmental controls included in the expansion project make Outside institutions more willing to send their treasures to Alaska, museum director and CEO James Pepper Henry said.

Major traveling shows on the horizon include one featuring the fantastic characters and actual science behind the "Star Wars" movies and an exhibit of paintings by Andy Warhol.

Find Mike Dunham online at adn.com/contact/mdunham or call 257-4332.

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