Elemental analysis of Seleucid's silver coins from Hamadan Museum by PIXE technique

Abstract

The commencement of the use of coins in trade exchanges, economic and administrative systems in the East has always been considered as one of the important mysteries of the ancient economy that was one of the main goals of Alexander the Great and subsequently the Seleucids. Additionally, the way in which economic policies changed during the Seleucid era is one of the important issues, which is addressed in the present paper. One of the methods that can help us to study this economy is the use of the PIXE (particle-induced X-ray emission) analysis as a non-destructive and high-sensitivity method to identify small-amount elements. This method is used to identify the elements in the coins and to get a better understanding of the qualitative and quantitative stagnation and prosperity of the coinage in this era. This paper also investigates the differences between the amount of elements in the coins minted by four main mints in the three main geographical regions of the Seleucids in their eastern and western parts, providing valuable information about the changes in the monetary system, and the economic, political, and technological conditions of the coinage. The results obtained from the PIXE analysis of 72 Seleucid coins preserved in the Hamadan Museum showed that the eastern mints probably used different ores compared to western mints. The results also indicated that the Seleucids' policies in relation to the coinage had been constant from the time of Seleucus I to Alexander I Balas and the main changes in the coinage and the decline in the fineness of the coins by the addition of copper began from Demetrius II.