As the electronic configuration of gold is [Kr] $4d^{10} 4f^{14} 5s^2 5p^6 5d^{10} 6s^1$, the valence shell is not completely full. Why doesn't gold corrode?
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1http://www.quora.com/Why-does-gold-not-rust – Freddy May 25 '15 at 13:00
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1Gold's 6s orbital is contracted due to relativistic effects making the 6s electron less available for oxidation (or for that matter, any chemical reaction). See this earlier answer – ron May 25 '15 at 13:35
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You can look it up on James Huheeys book, gold's few properties have been qualitatively explained by relativistic theory. Due to that and high nuclear charge acting on the electron, the single electron in $6s$ is actually attracted to the nucleus strongly, thus the electron is not available to react that easily and thus gold does not corrode.
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