Gold

Timon is totally a gold-digger—but not in the way that you think: Timon literally digs and finds gold in the ground.

Long before our main guy strikes it lucky, it's clear that gold is important in Timon of Athens. Money pervades the play: everyone is interested in it, and no one wants to give it up. Sounds like real life, doesn't it?

We first learn that Timon "pours" money out on people, and he's thought to have a servant that is a "god of gold" (1.1.281). The lords in the first scene take it one step further by saying that Timon is actually made of money. Now, that might just be their observation, but it's a really accurate portrayal of how everyone sees Timon: this guy's rollin' in dough.

Goldfinger

It takes Timon a while to figure out that not all of his friends are worth their weight in gold. In fact, gold changes from being something he uses to give his friends gifts to a "yellow slave" (4.3.34) that ruins friendships and makes society turn corrupt at its very deepest levels.

Now, Timon might realize that gold weighs him down, but even in the woods, he uses it to his advantage. His motives have changed, but his methods haven't. He gives the courtesans and thieves gold in order to make them bring destruction to Athens. He has the Midas touch, even out in the middle of nowhere.

So what should we take from all of this? Well, you could think Timon uses gold to get what he wants. It's just his way of making sure he's happy (or miserable). Or, you could see gold as a symbol of materialism: Timon will always be used by other people, just as long as he has gold.

He'll also be able to manipulate people as long as he has gold. Yeah, yeah: he's always complaining about how friends betrayed him, but he's the one who bought their affection in the first place. He wanted friends, so he showered them with gold to make them like him. Later, when he wants to destroy Athens, he showers people with gold to make them do that. What's the difference?