Gold plating Argentium

[Robert]

Good day,
Has anyone experience gold plating Argentium? I found an online resource, but it pre-treats with acid, which I would rather not do.
Thanks,
Bob

[metalsmith]

Just interested, but if you're gold plating, then why use Argentium? The gold plate would prevent silver tarnish, so what's the benefit?

[Robert]

I guess I could have provided more detail. I'm making a salt cellar, and I want to protect the silver from corrosion.

[ps_bond]

Have you done any testing on activated Argentium to see if it'll shrug off the chloride? I'd assumed it would, but I've not done anything to validate the assumption.

[Robert]

I have wondered the same thing, but thought the test may take months or years to show results. I also thought that since gold plating is a sure thing, I would try that avenue first.
Your suggestion is a good idea, though, so I think I will activate a piece of scrap and start the test.

[ps_bond]

Hah. Amazing what you find while googling. I'd forgotten I'd made some salt spoons a few years back; I was using one of them last night and despite being a bit grubby (tarnish resistant, not completely tarnish proof) it's not developed a layer of silver chloride (which is insoluble in water, BTW).