Can old deep gold get tarnished ?

[Deepdiger60]

In the field i have been hunting this morning i dug up a heart pendent i can see gold coming through the tarnished surface its the same on both sides it weighs 5.6 grams and came up on MD as a +10 +12 it was about 8 inches deep all i have done so far is wash it off with water Dd60

 

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[Blak bart]

Thread 'Black Gold !!' https://www.treasurenet.com/threads/black-gold.694006/

 

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[Blak bart]

Read my thread folks gold can and does get tarnished under specific conditions and certain minerals will make the gold stain when under the ground and in contact with these minerals for a long period of time....usually it's lower carat gold but when the chemical composition of the ground is strong enough even 14, and 18k can have this staining. Constant saturation of metals in the sand combined with salt water creates an environmental condition that causes the gold to stain and tarnish....I'm not a scientist, and haven't read all the technical explanations behind this effect, but I tend to believe it's staining, and I know other beach/water hunters who have found the very rare "BLACK GOLDS" it does happen but not very often !! Strangely enough I've found 2 this year which is very very unlikely as I've only found about 5 in my entire career metal detecting....that's 5 out of thousands of gold finds over 30 years hunting. The OPs find is not a solid gold piece, and was likley plated at one time. But there are instances of black gold !! So for all you people who absolutely know better .... well think again !! It can be stubborn to remove, but polish will do the trick !!

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Still a cool find !

 

[Clay Diggins]

Gold is one of the noble elements. It does not tarnish, change color or corrode and is very difficult to dissolve. The halogens (chlorine, bromine, iodine etc) are the only elements that react with gold. The compound cyanide will also cause gold to dissolve in water.

Most gold objects are not pure gold. Gold is normally alloyed with silver or copper. Both silver and copper will tarnish, change color and corrode. When you see tarnished "gold" what you are seeing is the non gold portions of the object being converted from solid metal to metal salts

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Gold is one of the noble elements. It does not tarnish, change color or corrode and is very difficult to dissolve. The halogens (chlorine, bromine, iodine etc) are the only elements that react with gold. The compound cyanide will also cause gold to dissolve in water.

Most gold objects are not pure gold. Gold is normally alloyed with silver or copper. Both silver and copper will tarnish, change color and corrode. When you see tarnished "gold" what you are seeing is the non gold portions of the object being converted from solid metal to metal salts

Or ....oxides,sulfides and sulfates. The formation of which perhaps enhanced by the presence of halides.

 

[Georgivs]

It really depends on its environment, i've found low carot gold in the water with tarnish. Usually it will still be mostly gold colored. I agree your locket was probably plated, but still an awesome find!