Mulch Diggums steals from the LEP gold Ransom Fund
Gold is one thing the Fowl family desire above all else. Their family motto is "Aurum Est Potestas," which means "Gold is Power". Artemis used to value gold more than anything, but as he grew it became less of a desire. He asked for one ton of unmarked 24 carat gold as Holly Short's hostage fund and one metric ton of gold as payment for his C Cube, when he intended to sell it to Jon Spiro in The Eternity Code. When Artemis asked for his consultant's fee when he agreed to help Holly in defeating Opal Koboi, he demanded one ton of gold from the hostage fund. He has said many times before that his father used to tell him the value of gold. He has often said that gold holds its value and that is why he likes it. He also said that to be successful you need leverage, and gold is leverage.
Fairies are similarly obsessed with gold. This is, supposedly, the reason that most dwarves spend their lives mining for gold. It is also the fairies' primary currency.
Once a human successfully separates gold from the Fairies, they get to keep it and no fairy can ever get it back, according to The Book.
The LEP's hostage fund is comprised entirely of gold ingots.
At the end of The Arctic Incident, Holly flipped a gold coin in the air and shot a hole through it, allowing Artemis to catch it. The gift was a thank you, since Artemis' actions allowed the magical reattachment of her amputated trigger finger, saving her career. It was also meant as a reminder that he had a "spark of decency" in him that allowed such actions. After this Artemis wore the coin on a necklace.
During The Eternity Code Artemis used gold foil to disguise the disk containing information that would trigger his memories of The People as his gold coin necklace and gave it to Mulch Diggums, trusting that the dwarf would be able to get it past the LEP officers.
Behind the scenes[]
Artemis and the Butlers look at their prize of fairy gold in a deleted scene
Both the book Artemis Fowl:A Fowl Adventure and the featurette "Meet Holly," as well as the deleted scene "Search for the Book" suggest a version of the Artemis Fowl film which focused heavily on the character of Artemis Fowl Jr. trying to acquire fairy gold, as in the original Artemis Fowl novel. In the final film, however, gold is never mentioned and the plot is instead focused on a MacGuffin known as the "Aculos."