Silver Coins Research Articles

Metallurgical study on some Sasanian silver coins in Sistan Museum

Elemental analyses and microstructural studies of historical metal artifacts provide researchers with invaluable and priceless information about metal extraction technology and the procedure of creating artifacts. In addition, the information is helpful for knowing about the metallurgical processes of the artifacts. This study was conducted by a microscopic examination and elemental analyses of seven Sasanian silver coins preserved in the Sistan Anthropology Museum, Iran. For the purpose of this study, three methods were employed: first, the proton induced X-ray emission microanalysis (micro-PIXE), to determine the main and trace elements of the coins; second, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), to perform elemental analysis to identify impurities of the metal; and third, microstructural analysis of the coins which was carried out with an optical microscope (OM). The elemental analyses identified Ca, Cu, Ag, Au, and Pb in the coins. The high quantity of Ag in samples validated the application of advanced and accurate cupellation technology for refining silver and separating impurities from raw ore. The gold concentration in the coins indicated the use of non-galena ore for silver extraction. Additionally, the microstructural analyses of samples pointed to the application of thermo-mechanical processes on coins.

Do People Have a Thing for Bling? Examining Aesthetic Preferences for Shiny Objects

Researchers in the evolutionary aesthetics tradition have suggested that people prefer shiny objects because glossiness connotes water. We consider some methodological issues in past research and present an experiment that manipulated the glossiness of metal objects. Young adults ( n = 134) viewed silver coins that were either dull or in “brilliant uncirculated” condition as well as copper cylinders that were either rough and tarnished, polished with a brushed surface, or polished with a mirror finish. Ratings of attractiveness showed that people preferred the shiny over the tarnished coin and the glossy copper bar over the tarnished and brushed ones. These effects were not simply due to perceived quality or implied effort. The findings demonstrate that, after many potential confounds have been avoided or controlled for, people do seem to have a thing for bling.

Complex archaeometallurgical investigation of silver coins from the XVIth-XVIIIth century

When dealing with cultural heritage artifacts, the use of non-invasive and non-destructive analyses techniques is a must. Determination of the surface corrosion layers and coin composition is important both for identifying compounds that form different alloys (which can be considered support material for important objects, such as numismatic artifacts), and also for their conservation. The selection of analytical techniques is of great importance, as it is a strict condition that the structure of the artifacts should not be affected.The paper presents the archaeometallurgical study of seven silver coins, using several nuclear techniques (X-ray fluorescence – XRF, X-ray diffraction – XRD, Particle induced X-ray emission – PIXE) and optical microscopy. The study was performed using bulk methods and micro-area measurements in order to establish their composition, as well as the presence of corrosion products. This could, in turn, provide information in support of the categorization in genuine/possible forgery. From the analyzed set of samples, six can be surely categorized as genuine, while one raises some questions. A decisive conclusion cannot be drawn for one of the analyzed samples, but the scientific evidences suggest either a misstruck or a forgery approximately contemporary with the original issue of these coins.

Fluorwavellite, Al3(PO4)2(OH)2F·5H2O, the fluorine analog of wavellite

Fluorwavellite (IMA2015-077), Al 3 (PO 4 ) 2 (OH) 2 F·5H 2 O, the F analog of wavellite, is a new mineral from the Silver Coin mine, Valmy, Iron Point district, Humboldt County, Nevada, and the Wood mine, 5 miles NE of Del Rio, Cocke County, Tennessee; at both occurrences it is a low-temperature secondary mineral. Fluorwavellite is essentially identical to wavellite in appearance and physical properties. Optically, fluorwavellite is biaxial positive, with α = 1.522(1), β = 1.531(1), and γ = 1.549(1) (white light). Electron microprobe analyses (average of nine for each co-type locality) provided the empirical formulas Al 2.96 (PO 4 ) 2 (OH) 1.98 F 1.02 ·5H 2 O (+0.12 H) for the Silver Coin mine and Al 2.98 (PO 4 ) 2 (OH) 2.11 F 0.89 ·5H 2 O (+0.06 H) for the Wood mine. Fluorwavellite is orthorhombic, Pcmn , with the cell parameters determined on a Wood mine crystal: a = 9.6311(4), b = 17.3731(12), c = 6.9946(3) A, V = 1170.35(11) A 3 , and Z = 4. The five strongest lines in the X‑ray powder diffraction pattern are [ d obs in A ( I ) ( hkl )]: 8.53 (100) (020,110); 5.65 (26) (101); 3.430 (28) (141,012); 3.223 (41) (240); and 2.580 (28) (331,161,232). The structure of fluorwavellite ( R 1 = 3.42% for 1248 F o > 4σ F reflections) is the same as that of wavellite, differing only in having one of the two independent hydroxyl sites replaced by F. A survey of F contents in wavellite-fluorwavellite from the five most common genetic types of occurrence (fluid expulsion, hydrothermal ore alteration, pegmatite phosphate alteration, residual carbonate weathering, and sedimentary leached zone) shows that F content, and the occurrence of wavellite vs. fluorwavellite, does not correlate with the type of the occurrence. It is more likely related to the fluid activity of Al, P, and F, with pH probably being an important factor. The role that wavellite and fluorwavellite play in sequestering F in the environment may be significant.

Average and core silver content of ancient-debased coins via neutron diffraction and specific gravity

The measurement of the fineness of debased ancient silver coins has proven to be a very difficult issue, which has been studied for a long time. In this paper, this subject is analysed, and the various consequences of the silver surface enrichment (SSE) are discussed exploiting the most recent investigations. A new model is proposed for the complex object that is an ancient-debased silver coin, based on the silver profiles measured on some sectioned specimens. The model is applied to a sample of 43 coins, mainly Roman victoriati, Cisalpine and Illyrian drachms (from late III to I century B.C.). The coins are investigated in two different ways: neutron diffraction (ND) and specific gravity (SG). The results of the two measurements are combined via the proposed model to provide a more complete numismatic information of the original fineness of the monetary alloy. As a result, a relation between SSE thickness and SG is derived, which, for these coinages, allows to estimate the original alloy silver content from a simple SG measurement; the same method can be used to study other debased coinages, provided that all the procedure (ND and SG) is applied.

Ion beam analysis and AMS dating of the silver coin hoard of Preuschdorf (Alsace, France)

The hoard of Preuschdorf is a monetary deposit discovered in Alsace (France) in 2005. This find was composed of 7327 silver-copper coins. They seem to have been struck over more than one century, between the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 17th century. This hoard is an exceptional find composed of a large quantity of coins from various periods, areas and contexts. It is also remarkable by the presence of counterfeit coins.IBA was used to analyze the silver content of the official coins by combining PIXE and RBS. The fineness was found to be between 20 and 42% according to the mint place and an unexpected subdivision of the values has been revealed. For the counterfeit coins, the analyses were able to bring to light different elaboration processes: amalgam silvering with two various contents of mercury and application of a thin layer of pure silver.Finally, linen fibers attached to the coins have been dated by AMS radiocarbon dating. The radiocarbon calibrated dates perfectly match with the chronological range given by the coins.

Metallurgical investigation on fourth century BCE silver jewellery of two hoards from Samaria

A fourth century BCE silver jewellery collection, which is part of two hoards of Samarian coins (the Samaria and Nablus Hoards), was studied by non-destructive analyses. The collection, which consists of pendants, rings, beads and earrings, had been examined by visual testing, multi-focal microscopy and SEM-EDS analysis. In order to enhance our knowledge of past technologies of silver jewellery production, we developed a metallurgical methodology based on the chemical composition of the joints and bulk. The results show that all artefacts are made of silver containing a small percentage of copper. Higher copper concentrations were measured in the joining regions. Our research indicates that the manufacturing of the jewellery from both hoards involved similar techniques, including casting, cutting, hammering, bending, granulating and joining methods, indicating that the artefacts were made by trained silversmiths. Although the burial date of the Samaria Hoard – 352 BCE – is some 21 years earlier than that of the Nablus Hoard – circa 331 BCE, a noted continuity in the local production technology is apparent in the analysed items. This information provides better understanding of the technological abilities in the late Persian-period province of Samaria and bears implications on the local silver coins produced in the region.

Currency Unions and Heterogeneous Trade Effects: The Case of the Latin Monetary Union

The Latin Monetary Union (LMU) agreement signed in December 1865 by France, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland standardised gold and silver coinage in member countries and allowed free circulation of national coins in the Union. In his seminal study, Flandreau (2000) found no evidence of an overall positive effect of the LMU on trade. In this paper, I estimate the effects of this currency agreement on trade. In my gravity model I explicitly take into account the changing conditions in the international environment that affected the LMU’s underlying economic foundations (i.e. the limits on silver coinage agreed upon in 1874) and its rules (i.e. the “liquidation clause” of 1885). I also test the existence of heterogeneous effects on bilateral trade within the LMU. In line with Flandreau, I find no significant LMU trade effects. However, I find support for the hypothesis that the LMU had significant trade effects for the period 1865-1874. These effects were nonetheless concentrated in trade flows between France and the rest of the LMU members, following a hub-and-spokes structure. Moreover, I find evidence for the existence of an 1874 “LMU-wide” structural break, which affected the course of trade flows within the Union.

The Archaeology of Prague and the Medieval Czech Lands, 1100–1600 by Jan Klápště

Reviewed by: The Archaeology of Prague and the Medieval Czech Lands, 1100–1600 by Jan Klápště Thomas A. Fudge Klápště, Jan, The Archaeology of Prague and the Medieval Czech Lands, 1100–1600 (Studies in the Archaeology of Medieval Europe), Sheffield, Equinox, 2016; cloth; pp. xviii, 254; 110 b/w illustrations, 29 colour plates; R.R.P. US $110, £75.00; ISBN 9781845536336. This groundbreaking study will attract those interested in the history, material culture, religion and archaeology of the Czech lands. The book avoids technical discourse with a specialist audience. For example, the author does not describe archaeological method. Instead, Klápště seeks to introduce the subject to a broad audience, and it should be noted that a synoptic survey does not exist for the subject or the period even in Czech. This makes this study particularly valuable. For the neophyte, the book defines the historic Czech lands as Bohemia, Moravia, and the southern part of historical Silesia. Today this is mainly in the Czech Republic. Especially important for the general reader is an introductory essay delineating the context of the study, the history of the region, and the history of archaeology in Czech lands (p. 1–14). Klápště elaborates the archaeological dimensions by developing concise treatments of the rural milieu, secular power, the religious landscape (churches, monasteries, cemeteries), urban settlements, domestic issues related to heat and light, technology, crafts and industry, artefacts, communication and symbols. The book concludes with an overview of medieval archaeology present and future. The reader may be interested to know that there are several thousand deserted medieval villages (DMVs) in the Czech lands forming essential context for understanding the rural milieu. Whereas these DMVs used to be thought of as 'time capsules of medieval rural occupation' (p. 20), Klápště adds considerable nuance pointing out that DMVs were not static but were products of long term development (p. 33). While archaeological work has revealed much of a vanished past, there are important areas of the Czech lands which have been irretrievably lost. Klápště underscores the negative impact of the protracted Hussite wars in the fifteenth century and the destruction of the medieval town of Most in the twentieth century as a result of opencast brown-coal mining. Parts of medieval Prague disappeared with the establishment of housing estates and new infrastructure. Up until the end of the twentieth century, Czech archaeology was dominated by investigations into settlement sites with a fortification (i.e. stronghold). This approach has broadened in the past two decades. We learn that Prague castle was reconstructed in stone and that dendrochronology is important for dating the foundations of castles and towns. Archaeological discoveries indicate a weak ecclesiastical structure (p. 75), definite connections between the 'worlds of the living and the dead' (p. 79) and the certainty of Prague's uniqueness (p. 143). Klápště reveals the details of the discovery of [End Page 224] a fortified suburbia below Prague castle unknown prior to 1994 spanning 25 hectares (p. 100). Excavation finds at Most and contamination in wells and cesspits bring remnants of the murky past into the light of day. These include ceramic and wooden toys, decorated stove tiles, pilgrim shells from Santiago de Compostela, pottery, glassware, animal skeletons, and general household goods. Excavations of medieval wells provide evidence to explain disease. With the discovery of contamination associated with the eggs of intestinal parasites, causal connections between disease, epidemics and water supplies is underscored (p. 136). At Tábor, 3959 silver coins were found in two ceramic vessels under a floor (p. 141), while a cesspit in the same town yielded a wooden book cover, wooden seal boxes and a leather spectacles rim. At the important mining town of Kutná Hora, 51,000 fragments of fourteenth-century lamps, essential in the lucrative silver mines, have been unearthed. Conditions preventing the chemical destruction of glass were provided by the cesspits and filled-up wells (p. 179–84). Klápště argues for an unparalleled density of evidence for urban archaeology anywhere in Europe (p. 145). The book draws attention to stove tiles as important items of Czech material culture. One can...

Eternity & Oranges by Christopher Bakken

Reviewed by: Eternity & Oranges by Christopher Bakken Eric Smith (bio) Christopher Bakken. Eternity & Oranges. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2016. Eternity & Oranges, Christopher Bakken’s third book of poems, opens with a yawn. Here’s the first stanza from the first poem, “Aubade”: We’d not slept in days, or else we were still sleeping—who could tell? Few words passed between us then, yet somehow we heard what the other said. Compare these lines to the first heaves of his two most recent books: the gustatory travel-memoir Honey, Olives, Octopus: Adventures at the Greek Table from (2013) and the poems of Goat Funeral (2006). In the former, Bakken explains (on page one) that the best way to carry a just-harpooned octopus is by stuffing it in a pair of pantyhose. The latter’s first poem introduces “our hero” who—in the first line—dry-humps the horizon. The stanza above, placed where it is in this new collection, asks a lot of its reader’s patience. The language is flat. The action is largely static (and what of it there is, is shunted into the past tense). The stanza is visually inert, though the ear may surface here and there to catch the sibilant hiss of white noise, or the half-heard murmur of internal rhyme. What music and imagery one finds here are as temporary, and as tenuous, as a lover’s fading caress. Comparatively speaking, these new poems often exude an odd, perhaps even off-putting quiet. One could argue that this collection lacks the crackle a returning reader should expect, the mimetic viscerality that rewarded our attention as it sloshed and squicked and burned across his earlier work. And yet: I am both taken and persuaded by what might initially resemble slackness in these poems, for I feel that these gestures are evidence of a far more dexterous poetics than what is found in Goat Funeral, one that carefully modulates sentence rhythm, image, and sentiment with astonishing effect. Later, in the same poem, is this revealing run of lines: I showed you an ancient silver coin: on one side, a Gorgon’s head, off-center and missing an ear. What’s this on the other side? I asked. (I didn’t have to ask this aloud.) A stag, maybe, or a bull. We didn’t know. The body was worn away, but the horns were still sharp. [End Page 26] The speaker’s tone remains unchanged—languorous, subdued, still on the threshold of sleep. He poses again an unuttered, unanswerable question. He occupies a space, both rhetorically and imaginatively, of ignorance. But embedded in the lines is a deceptive friction that undermines such poses. All but two of the lines contain at least one clear, almost archetypal image: the coin, the Gorgon, the ear, the stag, the horns. Each line is end-stopped, unifying each with its syntactic function, which grants them a sturdiness both on the page and in the moment of the poem. Even the rhythm—tetrameters giving way to a hexameter and a concluding trimeter pair—suggests a solidity and permanence seemingly at odds with the poem’s initial gestures (part of me can’t help but thrill at the scansion of “but the horns were still sharp,” whose terminal spondee invites us to diacritically mark the line with an additional pair of horns). It’s as if these lines reconstruct this intimate moment block by chiseled block. Where the poetic machinery of Goat Funeral occasionally got in the way of what it was trying to say (or vice versa), here, what is said is held in equipoise with how it is constructed on the page. It’s as if his impulses are millstones, grinding first their material, and then one another, to smoothness. But despite these sturdy assurances, including those found in the poem’s concluding lines—“fish shining on the dock / like a pile of just-polished knives”—the poem serves as a reminder of this collection’s primary obsessions: in every recollection and utterance we are, at best, living among descriptions of a ruin. The impulse in Goat Funeral was often primarily preservative: poem as monument. Depending, as the...

Prima urbes inter… aurea Roma? Roma und die Münzprägung der Jahre 364 bis 476 n. Chr.

The relationship between late antique emperors and the eternal city can be investigated with the help of coins on three different levels. First of all, an imperial mint was located in Rome, which operated more or less during the whole period of late antiquity. Secondly, the personification of Rome was one of the most prominent depictions on late Roman coins. Especially on the siliquae (silver coins weighing about 2.2 gr) of the western half of the Roman Empire, this personification becomes a kind of standard reverse type. Some siliquae bear the legend VRBS ROMA (FELIX) and seem to be connected with the city in a special way, while other coins show more general legends and Rome here seems to represent the Empire as a whole. Some minor variations of the depiction can be directly explained by events in Rome itself. Last but not least, some special coin series - especially from the reign of Valentinian III - reflect the close relationship between Rome and the emperor, who spent about a quarter of his reign in the eternal city.

Bohemian coins of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th centuries found in Budislavice

Six Bohemian silver coins described here come from the inheritance of Jiří Sedmík from Prague (1898–1942), a collector and important Czechoslovak diplomat, who participated in the anti-Nazi resistance. He was arrested in 1940 and executed in Berlin-Plötzensee at the end of 1942. Based on previously published data, some 70 Bohemian pieces (Prague grossi) were discovered in Budislavice even in 1917. Unfortunately, these coins were finally distributed in the systematic collection of the Museum of West Bohemia, and it is hard to get any information about them. But in 1964, another hoard from Budislavice was deposited in the Museum of West Bohemia. Typologically similar small coins – mostly of Bohemian origin – were of very bad condition. Torso of a vessel, in which the coins used to be buried, has been preserved. Later on, the content of this hoard was studied, and relevant basic data were published here, because of it is not impossible to find another hoard at the mentioned location.

Римские республиканские монеты из археологических раскопок святилища у перевала Гурзуфское Седло в горном Крыму

The article describes the characteristics of 35 Roman republican and Roman provincial silver coins II-I cent BC found during archaeological excavations of the sanctuary near the pass Gurzufskoe Sedlo in 1981–1993 at Mountain Crimea. Coins refer to the chronological periods of the Mithridates' Wars, the first triumvirate, the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, the second triumvirate, the reign of Octavian. In view of the rarity of the discovery of Roman republican coins in the cultural layers of archaeological sites of the Northern Black Sea region, the detailed stratigraphy data of Roman coins are provided.

Investigation of surface silver enrichment in ancient high silver alloys by PIXE, EDXRF, LA-ICP-MS and SEM-EDS

Surface elemental analysis presenting high silver (Ag) contents have been regarded as reliable for original bulk composition of silver coins which are accordingly referred as being produced from very pure Ag alloys. Also, the extent in which the surface elemental composition analytical results are influenced by surface Ag enrichment has been disregarded in coins alloys with Ag finenesses greater than the Ag content indexed to the maximum value of copper (Cu) solid solubility in Ag – 91.2wt.%. PIXE and EDXRF results obtained on Portuguese 11 dinheiros silver coins issued in the 16th century with a legal Ag fineness of 916.6 thousandths, show 4 to 7% higher Ag surface contents. As identified by LA-ICP-MS and μ-PIXE through coins thicknesses, the overestimation of the superficial measured Ag is associated to a Cu depletion gradient representing as much as 50% less Cu on surface than on the bulk of the coins. The subsurface microstructural characterization by SEM-EDS reveals the presence of an important superficial layer depleted of Cu-phase, with a thickness<70μm, resulting primarily from intergranular corrosion during the coin manufacturing process. These layers can only be accessed by destructive or invasive analysis, as thicknesses beyond the information emission depth obtained with EDXRF could not be identified by Ag Kα/Lα ratios. As showed by the combination of different methods of analysis, EDXRF, PIXE, SEM-EDS and LA-ICP-MS, the results obtained by surface analytical techniques may differ from the original bulk compositions for these high Ag content coins and should be taken cautiousness together with historical context and information.

Decorative log Almohad the silver coins and significant technical and Avatar

The year of 547 AH / 1152 AD was a turning point in the history of Islamic Maghreb and Andalusia through the view of cash, which saw the the rail of the fatimid and the almoravid model desappeared and be replaced by new models, which represented a radical change in form and content. These silver coins gained much luck of attention in terms form and content. The Almohad artist gave the technical mark, which represented in these various decorative system that combined the engineering of proportionality in sedation between the dirham and the hiring of plant elements that had occupied the empty spaces of money. In the country of Morocco the Almohad kinds was prevailed, gold and silver railroad model characteristics which will remain following the monetary system even after the fall of the Almohad Caliphate, the silver dirhams innovative new models, the Islamic Maghreb has not seen anything like them. تعتـبر سـنة 547هـ/1152م نقطة تحول في تاريخ المغرب الإسلامي و الأندلس من وجهـة النظر النقدية، حيث شهدت اختفاء طراز السکة الفاطمية و المرابطية، ليحل محلها طرازا جديدا يمثل تغييرا جذريا شکلا ومضمونا، ويعم بلاد المغرب جميعا وهو طراز السکة الموحدية بکل أنواعها، الذهبية و الفضية الذي سيظل بخصائصه نظاما نقديا متبعا حتى بعد سقوط الخلافة الموحدية ، حيث ستکون الدراهم الفضية المرکنة طرازا جديدا مبتکرا، لم يشهد المغرب الإسلامي مثيلا له ، فهذه النقود الفضية نالت حظا وافرا من الاهتمام من حيث الشکل و المضمون، حيث لم تقتصر على المضامين و الشعارات المألوفة على السکة الموحدية بل أضفى الفنان عليها بصماته الفنية التي تمثلت في تلک المنظومة الزخرفية المتنوعة التي مزجت بين التناسب الهندسي في ترکين الدرهم وبين توظيف العناصر النباتية التي شغلت الفضاءات الفارغة للنقد، واستعمال الزخرفة الکتابية، حيث وفق الفنان الموحدي في إضفاء رشاقة غير متناهية للحروف وتناسق أجزائها وتزيين سيقانها ورؤوسها ومداتها وأقواسها بالفروع النباتية وجزئياتها .

Tamdrup – Kongsgård og mindekirke i nyt lys

Tamdrup – Kongsgård og mindekirke i nyt lys

Multiple Monies in Senegambia (181551901) Indian Cotton, Silver Coin, and Paper Money

This study elucidates multiple monies and its interaction with the formal banking system in the Senegambia region for the period of 1815–1901. In particular, it focuses on the area from the Senegal River to Gambia River. Senegambia is comprised of both a French and British colony, today known as the Republic of Senegal and the Republic of the Gambia. However, at that time, France was able to maintain its territorial rights over Albreda, a small post on the right bank of the Gambia River until 1857. This facilitated a strong economic relationship between France and Gambia, despite the latter being under the British control. In 1853, the French established an issue bank, Banque du Senegal (Bank of Senegal), whereas it was only in the twentieth century that the British introduced the Western Africa Currency Board to control currency supply. Apart from the formal banking system, several means of exchange, such as Indian cotton, iron bars, and silver coins, were used in Senegambia. Particularly, guinee cloth and silver coins were circulated in addition to paper money issued by Banque du Senegal in the nineteenth century. Against this socioeconomic background, this study details the characteristics and roles of these three means of payment and draws a tentative conclusion on how people chose a means of payment and the conditions underlying their choice.

Crimsonite, PbFe3+2(PO4)2(OH)2, the phosphate analogue of carminite from the Silver Coin mine, Valmy, Nevada, USA

AbstractCrimsonite (IMA2014-095), PbFe3+2(PO4)2(OH)2, the phosphate analogue of carminite, is a new mineral from the Silver Coin mine, Valmy, Iron Point district, Humboldt County, Nevada, USA, where it occurs as a low-temperature secondary mineral in association with fluorwavellite, goethite, hematite, hentschelite, plumbogummite and variscite on quartz. Crimsonite occurs in subparallel aggregates of deep red blades or plates flattened on {100} and up to 0.1 mm in maximum dimension. The streak is light purplish orange. Crystals are transparent and have adamantine lustre. The Mohs hardness is ∼3½, the tenacity is brittle, the fracture is irregular to splintery and an imperfect cleavage is likely on {101}. The calculated density is 5.180 g/cm3. Crimsonite is optically biaxial (+), with 2V = 85.5(5)° and γ – α = 0.011. Using the Gladstone-Dale relationship, the calculated indices of refraction are α = 2.021, β = 2.026 and γ = 2.032. The optical orientation isX=b;Y=a;Z=cand the pleochroism isXlight orange,Ylight yellow,Zred brown;Y&lt;X&lt; Z. Electron microprobe analyses provided PbO 40.69, CaO 0.60, ZnO 0.72, CuO 0.13, Fe2O323.36, Al2O30.34, V2O50.70, As2O512.05, P2O516.03, SO30.33 and H2O 3.64 (structure), total 98.59 wt.%. The empirical formula (based on 10 O apfu) is (Pb1.06Ca0.06)∑1.12(Fe1.71Zn0.05Al0.04Cu0.01)∑1.81(P1.32As0.61V0.05S0.02)∑2.00O8[(OH)1.64(H2O)0.36]∑2.00. Crimsonite is orthorhombic,Cccm,a= 16.2535(13),b= 7.4724(4),c= 12.1533(9) Å,V= 1476.04(17) Å3and Z = 8. The eight strongest lines in the powder X-ray diffraction pattern are [dobsin Å(I)(hkl)]: 5.86(42)(111); 4.53(45)(112); 3.485(64)(113); 3.190(100) (022); 3.026(40)(004); 2.902(54)(511); 2.502(77)(422) and 2.268(54)(224). The structure of crimsonite (R1= 3.57% for 740Fo&gt; 4σF) contains FeO6octahedra that share edges to form dimers, which are then linked to other dimers by corner sharing to form chains along [010]. These chains are linked by PO4tetrahedra yielding sheets parallel to {001}. The sheets are linked to one another via bonds to 8-coordinated Pb2+atoms with non-stereoactive 6s2lone-electron pairs.

Authentication and conservation of corroded archaeological Qatabanian and Himyarite silver coins

To help the archaeologists study and date the archaeological silver coins excavated from burial soil, al-Ukhdoud castle, Najran, Saudi Arabia, it was necessary to reveal the impeded decorations and the inscriptions on these coins. For that it was necessary to remove the soiled deposits, encrustations, and corrosion layers covering these coins. To succeed in developing and establishing conservation processes for these coins, various tests were performed on the coins to assess their statement and condition. XRD analysis was used to characterize the coins. Also, scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) attached with energy- dispersive X-ray analyser (EDAX) was used to identify and analyse the corrosion products on the selected coins. Various selected cleaning processes that were suggested to remove the soiled deposits, encrustations, and corrosion layer covering these coins were tested. Mechanical cleaning, alkaline Rochelle salt, alkaline dithionite reduction technique, and electrolytic reduction techniques were tested. To evaluate the suggested cleaning processes used in this study, the coins before, while, and after the cleaning processes were investigated by various methods. SEM with EDAX and XRD techniques were used to characterize the coins before and after the final conservation. The results showed that the most adequate method that can be used safely and successfully for cleaning of the studied coins is as the following. In the beginning, the loosely corrosion layer on the coins has to be removed mechanically. Then, the coins should be treated with alkaline Rochelle salt technique. Finally, after finishing the treatments, the coins should be rinsed, dried, and isolated. The conservation processes used in this study can be applied effectively, safely, and successfully for cleaning and removing the soiled deposits, encrustations, and corrosion layers covering the coins in this treasure and the simulated archaeological coins. The archaeological and historical study of the decorations and inscriptions that appeared on the surface of the coins after their conservation process confirms that these coins belong to kingdoms of Qataban and Ḥimyar. The revealed decorations and inscriptions confirm that a part of the coins belong to Qataban kingdom which returns back to the first century BCE until the middle of the first century CE. The other part of the coins belongs to Ḥimyar kingdom which returns back to the first century BCE until the second century CE. The study confirms that the coins of this hoard date back to the period between last quarter of 1st century BCE-from the ruling time of the Ḥimyarite king, Shamnar Yuhan'im, to the end of the 2nd century CE-from the ruling time of the Himyarite king, Tha'ran Ya'ub. This study can be a guide for the conservators who seek to cleaning processes for simulated coins. Also this study provides archaeologists and historians with very important materials that can help them interpret many questions, mysteries, missing information, a lot of historical facts, and secrets about the economic and technical developments during the ancient times in Najran city.

Provenance determination of silver artefacts from the 1629 VOC wreck Batavia using LA-ICP-MS

Silver artefacts from the shipwreck Batavia, known to have been made on commission by the Dutch East India Company in 1627–1628 for trade in the Dutch East Indies, were analysed using LA-ICP-MS for trace elemental composition. The results were compared to a database of trace elemental compositions of Spanish, Spanish American and other European silver coins of known provenance. At the time Spain, which controlled the vast majority of world silver, was at war with the United Netherlands, and was enforcing a trade embargo, severely limiting the supplies of precious metals accessible by the Dutch. Based on their trace elemental composition, the Batavia silver artefacts were found to have been most similar to silver known to have originated in Germany and silver that reached the Dutch indirectly from Spain. These results shed light on the movement of silver as a commodity throughout the world during a unique time in history.