I noticed that some of the gold items really have no value or use [Example: Gold pearls] yet, and I thought that some kind of little event or activity that could be added to make use of these items. It's basically a gold rush idea, sort of like in real life where the price of gold has risen and now everyone is scrambling to cash in while they can. It can be a once a year sort of event where you earn, collect, sell, and exchange your gold items for a limited time or a browser based game where you can go searching for pieces of gold in a river or mountain somewhere, and you need certain items [Like a strainer if you're searching in a river] to search for gold in certain areas.
Just thought it would be an interesting concept and a good way to make certain items useful.