Does silver make gold decay?

Question

if you put silver(or any other metal) together with gold..does it cause it to decay and decreases its value?

Answer 1

No.

Electrum is an alloy (mix) of gold and silver.

Answer 2

In theory yes. in practice no.  The galvanic series shows that silver is more anodic than gold but they are the two most cathodic metals in the series, silver No. 90 and gold No. 91. The attached chart doesn't show the electromotive difference between the two metals but it must be very small, otherwise they would not be so widely used together.

http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Definit...

Answer 3

Gold is very resistant to corrosion.  It can be alloyed with many different metals without harm.  The alloys can be melted down or otherwise separated to recover the original gold.

Pure gold is very soft, so generally it is only found in bars and so called "bullion" coins, which generally do not get a lot of wear.  For rings, bracelets, and necklaces, the alloy metals provide strength and toughness.

If you take a quantity of pure gold and alloy it with 25% copper, you end up with 18K rose gold, a reddish gold alloy often found in antique jewelry. You have not reduced the value of the gold.  However the rose gold is less valuable per gram/ounce/pound than the original gold, because some of it is copper.  

Grandpa

Answer 4

If you have actually successfully alloyed these two metals, then yes, you have decreased their values by some small amount.

I think that you mean, "if you put them together in close proximity". In that case, no. Nothing dissolves, decays, or reacts with gold. There is only one very special cocktail of acids that will even slightly dissolve gold. Gold has a half-life measured in billions of years. The only thing you ever need worry about is a bit of tarnish on the surface if the gold is less than about 18 carats. Pure gold will never tarnish.