Am I left with gold

[LeviJames]

I came across some plated letter openers the blade is made out of what I think is aluminum and the seemed to have a thick plating on them I soaked a few in HCl and peroxide and what I was left with looks like a copper almost I'm not sure if it's gold or not here are some pics

 

[orvi]

HCl with higher peroxide content is capable of dissolving gold, mainly if heated, be aware of this fact. If it is real gold plated and base material is aluminium, than the foils should be separated and clearly visible, as they did not dissolve in HCl. Scavenge few pieces, dissolve them with AR or HCl/nitrate and test with stannous chloride for presence of gold.