"Gold Layered" is primarily an electrical process. First a piece of base metal, normally brass, is submerged in a plating solution and then an electric current is passed through both the solution and the item being plated. There are many different solutions depending on the amount and color of gold to be plated. This process moves individual atoms of gold out of the solution and onto the item being plated. The gold plate is thus evenly deposited only a few molecules thick over the entire object. Depending on various factors, this coating can be worn away in a very short time or last quite a while.

 

Please do not consider plating as a hobby as the process is much more complicated than this simple description makes it seem and the solutions involved contain highly corrosive acids and deadly chemicals like hydrochloric acid and cyanide.

 

Gold Filled is a abbreviated g.f. = Lower in gold content than 10 KT, usually 1/20 or 1/12 KT. In this technique a sheet of gold is mechanically applied to the surface. Victorian pieces are likely to be unmarked, but later pieces are marked with the fineness of the gold layer, and the part by weight of the gold. For example any piece marked "1/10 12K G.F." is composed of at least 1/10 12K gold based on the weight of the finished piece. In the U.S. gold - filled pieces must be at least 1/20 by weight to be classified as gold-filled.