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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;desertgem, post: 682896, member: 15199&quot;]Generally, if one asks if gold tones, they are asking does gold change color due to a chemical reaction ( oxidation) like silver or copper. Copper and silver are commonly mixed with gold ( not chemically combined) for coins or jewelry. It is simple to say that copper or silver mixed with the gold does oxidize and if the mixture is good, the size of each part should be microscopic enough that the hue of the entire coin will change in the eye&#039;s view. One would expect 90% gold to tone more than 99%, and even more so for 99.99%. If the mix is not good and &quot;clumps&quot; appear, the clumps may be large enough to be visible and may have copper red to brown hue or if for silver, other silver tone colors can shade the gold&#039;s hue.</p><p><br /></p><p>==========the below is not necessary if you don&#039;t like chemistry==</p><p><br /></p><p>The problem is that this reflects &quot;old time color chemistry&quot; whereas since the 1970s, the color of gold, due to it&#039;s mass and electron configuration has been determined to be altered by&nbsp; relativistic quantum effects on the atoms of the metal gold. So the color of gold itself can be affected by especially silver atoms adjacent to the gold atoms. People who deal with gemstones have had to come to this theory many times already to describe how molecules like iron can give so many different color hues in gems. So even though gold may not oxidize, it is theoretically possible for gold to change color due to changes within the electron energy configuration. But the purer the gold, the less the change possibility.</p><p><br /></p><p>Go down to the &quot;Color of Gold section&quot;.</p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativistic_quantum_chemistry" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativistic_quantum_chemistry" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativistic_quantum_chemistry</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Jim</p><p><br /></p><p>No posting indicating that I should have gone to bed earlier is necessary :whistle:[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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