Why do prospectors bite gold to test its authenticity?

Question

You always see it in the movies... they look at it, bite in with the corner of their mouth, then their eyes light up as they look at it again, having confirmed it is real gold. lol Stereotype or accurate testing method..??

Answer 1

Maybe it is about 75%-90% accurate because a real gold doesn't get scratch easily

Answer 2

Raw gold has a certain (soft) consistency. By biting in to a piece of gold found in it's natural form (therefore mixed in with various other metals) one can get a rough estimate of it's gold content.  

Answer 3

Because is an extremely soft metal. So, when they bite it, they're seeing if their teeth can mark the gold or not.

Answer 4

because real gold is really soft.

Answer 5

If it's real gold it will leave a mark