What Do Real Gold Look Like

Fool s gold tends to be bright and shiny much shinier than actual gold.

What do real gold look like.

If it sticks it probably isn t real gold since gold isn t magnetic. If it floats it s probably not real gold since gold is very dense. Fool s gold is glittery and bright but if you shade it in your hand it will become dull and drab looking. Gold can look many different ways in nature but it is important to know the difference between gold and the other minerals.

But real gold stays bright even when out of direct sunlight and though soft does not fall apart when you touch it like fool s gold can. Real gold weighs about 1 5 times more than fool s gold or iron pyrite. So indicators of the presence of sulfides like arsenic copper iron and silver may also appear within gold ore. Look at how the gold reflects light.

Fool s gold and other minerals that look like gold will not produce a weight difference between the pieces of quartz. Nuggets or small flakes of gold are usually bright and untarnished. Pyrite has a brassy color. Fool s gold can be mistaken for placer gold gold found as rounded or flat nuggets in dry and wet stream beds and rivers or creeks because they both look golden.

Once you have seen a few pictures of real gold it is pretty easy to distinguish from the other stuff. To tell if gold is real try dropping it into a glass of water. If you search online some will say that real gold tarnishes while others will say that real gold does not tarnish. Gold ore can look like quartz with streaks or spotty areas of gold.

Most specimens of pyrite found in nature will have at least some tarnish on their surface. The environmental protection agency says that gold is commonly alloyed with silver and other metals. Check out some of the pictures throughout our website of the various gold nuggets and gold specimens. You can also try holding a strong magnet like the kind you can find at hardware stores up to the metal to see if it sticks to it.

Most native gold is alloyed with silver and if the silver content is high enough the specimen will have a whitish yellow color. Gold tarnishing is the slight corrosion of the gold surface and is evident as a dark discoloration of the gold item also called a tarnish film. Gold has a golden to yellow color. Real gold will still maintain a diluted glow though not as bright as it would be if in full sunlight.