Gold in its pure state is considered the most beautiful and hence most valuable of the pure metals. It is metallic, having a yellow colour when in mass, though when finely divided it may be black, ruby or purple.

Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity, and is unaffected by air, nitric, hydrochloric, or sulphuric acid and most other reagents. A mixture of one part nitric acid with three parts hydrochloric acid, called aqua regia, dissolves gold. It is also dissolved by solutions of azoimide. Further, it is attacked by sodium, and potassium cyanide plus oxygen.
The most common gold compounds are auric chloride (AuCl3) and chlorauric acid (HAuCl4).