Measurements are presented of absolute sputtering coefficientsSfor polycrystalline Au bombarded by 45‐keV ions withZionranging from 2 to 79. Low‐fluence results taken with chemically etched Au surfaces represent the first complete set ofSvalues taken under the nearly ideal sputtering conditions of vanishingly small ion fluence and undamaged target surface. The results confirm unambiguously the smooth monotonic increase inSwithZionas predicted by sputtering theory. High‐fluence results are also obtained which are representative of implanted‐target surface conditions. These results exhibit the periodic variation ofSwithZionas seen in past sputtering investigations.