A) Tarnish: Most specimens of pyrite, found in nature, will have at least some tarnish on their surface. Nuggets or small flakes of gold are usually bright and untarnished.

B) Color: Pyrite has a brassy color. Gold has a golden to yellow color. Most native gold is alloyed with silver, and if the silver content is high enough, the specimen will have a whitish yellow color.

C) Shape: Pyrite is usually found as angular pieces, and many of them exhibit the faces of a cube, octahedron or pyritohedron. Most gold particles found in streams have slightly rounded edges, but be careful – some crystalline gold specimens can display a crystal habit that is similar to pyrite.

D) Striations: Many crystals of pyrite have fine parallel lines on their faces. Gold crystals do not have striations.

E) Specific Gravity: Gold has a specific gravity of about 19.3. The specific gravity of pyrite is about 5. (All gold found in nature is always alloyed with other metals. These metals have a specific gravity which will reduce the specific gravity of the specimen, but never enough that it approaches the specific gravity of pyrite. Specimens containing a significant amount of gold will always have at least two to three times the specific gravity of pyrite.)