They actually just plate connectors typically, I think with around 7µm of gold. And no, gold is not a better copper or silver. Both silver and copper are more c

They actually just plate connectors typically, I think with around 7µm of gold. And no, gold is not a better copper or silver. Both silver and copper are more conductive than gold (then followed by aluminum). Gold is excellent for contact points though as it does not tarnish. Silver conducts heat and electricity the best of the three, but tarnishes the most easily, so it can have issues with high frequency signals as most of the signal travels on the outer surface. If both silver and copper were the same price as copper, it'd probably be silver that would see the most increase in use in electrical applications. During the Manhattan project, there was a shortage of copper and cost was not an option. 430 million troy ounces of silver from the West Point Bullion Depository was melted down and used to make magnetic coils. At the end of the project, it was all returned, minus 120 oz. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calutron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calutron