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Message:: [QUOTE="Neal, post: 3656848, member: 43872"]It appears some of the confusion in this thread comes from an inconsistency in terminology.  "Pure" gold, in an absolute sense, probably does not exist except in theory and perhaps a few very small laboratory samples. Even .999999999 gold would mean for every 1,000,000,000 atoms of gold, there would be one atom of something else.  But the term "pure" is commonly used of any gold that has been refined to be "mostly" pure, without any other material intentionally added.  It seems this term today would include anything .999 or better, although historically it would include gold of less purity than that.  As has been pointed out, that means the gold is 99.9 percent gold and .1% something else.  Gold coins made for circulation would be too soft at that purity, so typically copper would be added to make the coin in the neighborhood of 90% gold (.900), but sometimes other alloys can be used.  A pre-1933 U.S. double eagle, for example, being only .900 gold, is still listed as containing .96750 ounces of "pure" gold, even though you would have to refine it again to recover the gold in a "pure" form.  The exact alloy used in gold can make a major difference in the color.  Black Hills Gold jewelry has been produced for over a century with beautiful shades of pink, green, yellow, etc., all of the same purity.  Even at .999, the makeup of that .1% alloy can make a difference in the exact shade of a coin.  That difference can be the random difference in chemistry where the gold was mined or processed, or it can be an intentional blend of the refiner or mint.  It might be copper, silver, platinum, or some other metal or metals.  Each will alter the shade of the gold coin slightly.[/QUOTE]

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