The meaning of the phrase is that value is determined by each person individually. An expression used in a similar fashion is, 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder.' These expressions are similar in how they establish a connection between the item or condition of value, and the seeker.

**An example of usage**: Discussion between two job seekers

**A**: I heard about a job opening as an accountant in a small factory.

**B**: A job like that doesn't interest me, but *gold is where you find it*.

**A**: It might be a little boring, but I think I could get a lot of work experience there.

 - The meaning of this exchange would therefore be, that B does not want the accountant's job, but understands that it might interest someone else, especially A. A agrees that there are problems with the job, and explains what her interest in it is. 

An important element in the usage of the phrase is that others do not see, or have not found value where the seeker does. 


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**Examples from actual usage:**

 - Actual Usage in Pop Culture (70's TV)

A reference from a hit TV series, can be found in an episode of [Grizzly Adams][1]. The meaning there is related to a discovery of benefit or value in an unexpected or overlooked place. The episode, called, “Gold is where you find it,” is related in this synopsis:

> Four orphaned wolf pups....a man
> facing a lonely future...and the act
> of kindness that saved them all. It is
> a story that will touch your heart.
> Retired attorney Jim Crawford (Michael
> Flynn) has just lost his wife to
> cancer, tearing his family apart and
> leaving him utterly alone. While still
> lost in the depths of despair, help
> comes in an unexpected way. Jim
> discovers four orphaned wolf pups that
> need a friend just to survive. In
> spite of his own misery, he takes them
> in and learns to care for them.
> Unlikely friends have found each
> other, and discovered hope in an
> unlikely way. Soon it is time for the
> matured wolves to live on their own,
> and Jim returns them to the forest.
> Jim's legal help to the local
> townspeople becomes a barrier to
> Beddows (David Nibley), the
> unscrupulous developer who is trying
> to take over the town. Scheming
> Beddows plans to get Jim out of the
> way by putting his wolves in danger.
> While searching the forest to protect
> the wolves from Beddows, Jim is
> attacked by a grizzly bear. Without
> warning, the four wolves come to Jim's
> aid and fend off the angry bear. Jim
> realizes they have always been
> there...watching out for him...and the
> four wolves repaid their friend for
> his kindness.

 





 - Actual usage from sources interested in finding actual gold


http://www.acjohnson.us/explorationdevelopment/goldrecovery.html

http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/gold-and-gold-mining/2

http://www.goldprospectors.org/newforum/forum_posts.asp?TID=18663&title=gold-is-where-you-find-it

http://www.republicofmining.com/2008/08/19/ontario-gold-is-where-you-find-it-%E2%80%93-by-michael-barnes/

http://www.csiro.au/people/Frank.Reith.html

Each usage essentially treats the phrase as an axiom, and uses it to refer to hidden value being uncovered by specific observers choosing to look, or chance discovery in unexpected circumstances. 



  [1]: http://www.grizzlyadams.net/