Fools Gold Real Gold Rock

Fool s gold is actually a mineral composed of iron sulfide with a crystalline structure.

Fools gold real gold rock.

Pyrite is called fool s gold because it resembles gold to the untrained eye. There s gold in them there hills on a recent trip to sutter s mill in coloma ca we got a chance first hand to discover actual gold and learn how to tell the difference between the real deal and tricky fool s gold. Without zooming in it can be tough to tell the difference especially when the sun is shining and the water makes everything glisten. A copper penny and a tiny gold nugget on a black streak plate with a small streak made by the nugget.

For example fool s gold is not a metal while real gold is pure metal. The copper penny is in the photo to serve as a scale. Fool s gold scratches glass whereas real gold does not. If the quartz sticks to the magnet then it contains iron pyrite or fool s gold.

You can also try to scratch a piece of glass or unglazed ceramic with the gold portion of the rock. Some pyrite can actually contain traces of metal such as gold. The real story behind fool s gold. The tiny nugget weighs 0 0035 troy ounce and at a gold price of 1200 ozt the nugget if it were pure gold would have a gold value of 4 20.

Real gold will not scratch these substances. Regardless it s not totally unheard of to find some small traces of real gold in pyrite. As you can imagine the value of real gold is significantly higher than that of pyrite. Real gold also leaves a gold streak when scratched against a small bit of unglazed ceramic like the back of a piece of bathroom tile but iron pyrite leaves a greenish black colored streak.

Gold leaves a yellow streak while pyrite s streak is brownish black. It is a mineral an iron sulfide and has a crystalline structure. To identify gold inside of a piece of quartz hold a magnet against the rock. Http www bit ly subscribejtv check out jtv s gemopedia.

Iron pyrite is attracted to magnets but real gold is not magnetic. Ways to tell the difference between fool s gold and real gold.