The gilding method described by W. König in 1938 combines a kind of voltaic element and an electroplating bath in one cell with only two electrodes. Although the use of zinc and a gold cyanide solution does not <i>a priori</i> exclude an ancient origin of the process, there are no literary sources or gilded objects which prove the ancient use of such a technique. A survey of the history of galvanic gilding showed the method to be identical with British Patent 8447, filed in 1840.