Does gold tarnish?

[konnon6]

I've always herd that gold doesn't tarnish.But I also herd that gold nuggets turn brown.then I herd that gold gets copper colared in sand.Can someone
help?

 

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[Shortstack]

I'm no expert, but.
Gold doesn't tarnish. If you see gold with a tarnished LOOK, it'll be from whatever metal the gold is alloyed with.
Gold nuggets are not pure. Other materials are mixed in during its formation--including any brown or black crusty coatings.

 

[ivan salis]

"pure gold" does not tarnish---- however nuggets found in the wild are not pure thats why they need to be refined * what makes nuggets tarnished looking or other odd colors is other metals and minerals that mixed up with it (impurites) --- Ivan

 

[Old Dog]

If gold lays on the surface of some soils it will in time get coated with trace minerals. These trace minerals in turn can turn odd colors.

For example Pegleg's black nuggets
The black coating is actually what some call desert varnish. if the nugets are cleaned or even carried in a pocket for long they loose the black coating and become golden in color once again.

Hope this helps.

Mineral content can also turn gold red or green or bluish and even purple. Look at black hills gold, many colors, but no tarnish.

OD

 

[konnon6]

Thanks
I was painfully aware of that the hard way when i gave away a nugget
that I found in a hunt near Ransburg in the Mojave desert

 

[stefen]

Some lessons learned are learned the hard way...write that one lesson off as 'fools gold' and move on...

 

[Ant]

Pure gold does not tarnish under normal conditions, even gold laying on the surface does not tarnish. However, alloyed gold can sort of tarnish but rarely does and when it does it cleans up fairly easily. Raw nuggets are a different story.

That's my experience.

 

[Urban Prospector]

A 22 kt gold ring will turn my Wife's finger green like a cheap copper ring, but white gold won't. There is some electrolysis going on there but it doesn't discolor the gold only what contacts the gold. Gold can also be cleaned to brighten it up so there is some surface discoloration. My opinion is that yes it oxidises but very slowly as compared to other non ferrous metals.