 If you happen upon one of these ceramic ICs with gold-plated pins, you may be disappointed to learn that, no, you have not found a golden ticket. In fact, this chip probably won't perform any better than its more forgettably-dressed siblings. Still, it's an eye-catching view into electronics history. The earliest IC packages use similar ceramic housings. Ceramic offers great electrical insulation, heat dissipation, and it's quite good at staying airtight. But why gold? Well, pure gold does not react to oxygen, so no oxidation. And no oxidation means basically zero corrosion, so a pin conductor will keep working for a very long time. Being fancy is really just sort of a side effect.