The were not gold/grey. It's kind of like looking at old renaissance painting and wondering why everything looked so dark and gloomy (it was due to the clear varnish turning yellow and brown after the centuries). In this case, it is the clear coating and oxidation of the aluminum that caused them to look yellowed after 50 years or so.
The NOS pair I found were pristine cast aluminum - like a brand new intake manifold. Here's a photo of the NOS rim just out of the box.
Best bet is to have them media blasted with the plastic or walnut shell media (tape off the polished outer rim when you do it). That's what I did with my set in the link above.
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