Artificial Gold
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Artificial Gold. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
American Watchmaker and Jeweler (1892)
A metallic alloy, at present very extensively used in France as a substitute for gold is composed of: Pure copper, 100 parts; zinc, or preferably tin, 17 parts; magnesia, 6 parts; sal-ammoniac 3 to 6 parts; quicklime, 1/8 part; tartar of commerce, 9 parts, are mixed as follows: The copper is first melted, and the magnesia, sal-ammoniac, lime and tartar are then added separately and by degrees, in the form of powder; the whole is now briskly stirred for about one-half hour, so as to mix thoroughly, and then the zinc is added in small grains by throwing it on the surface and stirring until it is entirely fused; the crucible is then covered and fusion is maintained for about 35 minutes. The surface is then skimmed and the alloy ready for coating. It has a fine grain, is malleable, and takes a splendid polish. It does not corrode readily, and is an excellent substitute for gold for many purposes. When tarnished, its brilliancy can be restored by a little acidulated water. If tin be employed instead of zinc, the alloy will be more brilliant.
The Encyclopedia of Founding (1892)
A French substitute for gold is made as follows: Melt copper, 100; then add separately and by degrees, in powder, magnesia 6; sal-ammoniac 4 1/2; quick-lime 1/8; tartar 9; and stir half an hour--after which add zinc, or, preferably, tin 17. Mix well, and continue the fusing for 35 minutes, with the crucible well covered before casting. This alloy does not corrode easily; when it does tarnish its former brilliancy can be restored by dipping in acid solution. See GOLD ALLOYS.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
What both 1892 books describe is not gold at all but a brass — the magnesia, sal-ammoniac, quicklime and tartar act mainly as fluxes and largely burn off, leaving a copper-zinc (or copper-tin) alloy of the family sold as oroide, similor or Mannheim gold. Imitation gold is still made, but the trade long ago moved from cast alloys to surface treatments: electroplating, rolled gold-filled sheet, and since the 1980s hard gold-coloured titanium nitride coatings on watch cases and tools. Meanwhile the alchemical sense of the phrase was settled in 1980, when Glenn Seaborg's group at Berkeley bombarded bismuth and produced a few thousand atoms of genuine gold — real, and vastly more expensive than mining it.
Written for this edition, 2026.