History of Gold
FINE GOLD can be alloyed with other metals to give it special characteristics. In its pure form, gold has a metallic luster that is sun-yellow, but when mixed or alloyed with other metals, such as silver, copper, zinc, nickel, platinum, palladium, tellurium, and iron, it creates several other color tones that extend from silver-white to green and orange-red.
Generally, the tones of red, yellow and green are made by adding different quantities of copper and silver to produce the alloys from 10 to 14 karats. The white tones have been traditionally made by alloying nickel, zinc and copper with gold, but more recently silver and palladium have substituted zinc. These color variation processes are utilized especially to make jewelry.
FINE GOLD is a rare, beautiful metal, with an unparalleled combination of physical and chemical characteristics. It is the only yellow metal and derives its name from the old English word for yellow, “geolu.” It is also the only metal that does not oxidize when exposed to air in normal temperatures, so it does not rust or tarnish.
The fineness of FINEGOLD. is a metallurgical term that indicates the purity of the FINE GOLD and it is expressed by parts per 1,000 of pure metal. Coins and gold ingots have a fineness of 999.9 parts per 1,000.
The purity of a gold piece or the quantity of FINE GOLD in an alloy is measured by units called karats. A FINE or PURE gold piece has 24 karats. In gold pieces with few karats the value is determined by the proportion of pure gold as a fraction of 24. For example, an article of 18 karats contains 18/24 (or 3/4) fine gold and 6/24 (or 1/4) of alloy in weight.
