A lot of stuff is 14K "filled" which is to say "plated" If this was plated and wore off, then the base metal is most likely
brass or copper.
R. Wink

On 13 May 2004 13:50:29 GMT, Ignoramus27444 wrote:

I asked this question in another newsgroup, but decided to also ask
here, since there is a bunch of experts who can probably give some
good input.

I received a "gold chain" as a birthday present, two months ago. Since
then, the chain has discolored in ways that made me suspect that it is
not real gold. It is stamped "14K Italy".

For very high quality scans (including enlarged pictures) of the chain,
see

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/gold-chain/

(click on the thumbnail images to enlarge).

Can this possibly be gold?

I am going to sam's club tonight and will ask their jeweler also.

I think that the person who gave me this present got screwed.