The mystery of mercury-layers on ancient coins — A multianalytical study on the Sasanian coins under the Reign of Khusro II

Uhlir, Katharina; Padilla-Álvarez, R.; Migliori, Alessandro; Karydas, A. G.; Mihalić, Iva Božičević; Jakšić, Milko; Zamboni, Ivana; Lehmann, R.; Stelter, Michael; Grießer, Martina; Schindel, Nikolaus; Alram, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.microc.2015.10.024

Cited by 37 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…X-ray fluorescence analysis at NSIL has been applied to a variety of studies: e.g. classification of Sri Lankan tea based on their region of origin [7]; study of surface alterations in archaeological coins [8] and other studies. A full-field XRF spectrometer was commissioned at NSIL.…”

Section: Adaptative Research and Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

IAEA Nuclear Science and Instrumentation Laboratory: Support to IAEA Member States and Recent Developments

Foulon¹,

Abdelouahed²,

Bogovać³

et al. 2020

EPJ Web Conf.

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As part of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Physics Section, the Nuclear Science and Instrumentation Laboratory (NSIL) helps Member States (MSs) to establish, operate and maintain various nuclear instrumentation and spectrometry techniques in support of a wide range of applications such as health care, food, agriculture, environment, forensics, cultural heritage, and materials science. NSIL is contributing to capacity building, transfer of knowledge and expertise sharing, including the development of instruments and validation of analytical methodologies. This paper describes NSIL's key activities and provides an overview of the recent developments and achievements, including the commissioning and utilization of an end-station at one of the beam lines in Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste (EST, Italy), the upgrade of an ultralight radiation monitoring system onboarded on a drone, as well as the development of a full field X-ray fluorescence analytical system for forensic applications and characterization of valuable art/archaeological objects.

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Section: Adaptative Research and Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

IAEA Nuclear Science and Instrumentation Laboratory: Support to IAEA Member States and Recent Developments

Foulon¹,

Abdelouahed²,

Bogovać³

et al. 2020

EPJ Web Conf.

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“…However, as Hg is a very volatile element, most of it is removed from the silver after the process of cupellation (Merkel 2016). An experiment on amalgam silvering performed by Anheuser (1996) suggests that this process leaves 10-40% of Hg on the object's surface, while another study indicated that the content may be lower (Uhlir et al 2016). The small quantities of Hg could also be interpreted as contamination or as an indicator of surface treatment that occurred after making the denar.…”

Section: Composition Of the Denarsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi‐technical study of silver denars from medieval Poland for an improved understanding of their archaeological context and provenance

et al. 2020

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This paper discusses a methodology that involves the use of X-ray fluorescence (XRF), high-energy particle-induced X-ray emission (HE-PIXE) and high-energy particle-induced γ-ray emission (HE-PIGE) spectroscopies for the study of historic denars with the aim of describing the advantages and limitations of each technique as well as arriving at an archaeometric interpretation of the compositions. A total of 39 medieval Polish denars minted by kings Bolesław the Brave and Mieszko II Lambert were analysed for their elemental composition. While XRF is limited to the analysis of the material close to the object's surface, high-energy ion-beam analysis (HE-IBA) was used to obtain information from Cu at a relatively larger depth. The major elements detected were Ag and Cu, while the minor elements were Pb, Au, Bi and Zn. An evaluation of the results obtained with the different techniques shows that the content of Cu near the surface is different from the bulk composition of the coins. The obtained elemental composition was used to proliferate the understanding of chronological changes in the production of early medieval Polish denars.

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“…The typology, mint, denomination, and chemical composition of the Sasanian coins were studied under the project entitled "Sylloge Nummorum Sasanidarum" [5,6]. The chemical composition of the Sasanian silver coins was determined using various non-destructive techniques such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF), proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) [1][2][5][6][7][8][9][10], and percentage composition was used to explain the locations and identification of coin mines [1,8]. Mercury was observed on the surface of the silver coins of the emperor Khusro II (591-628) [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The chemical composition of the Sasanian silver coins was determined using various non-destructive techniques such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF), proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) [1][2][5][6][7][8][9][10], and percentage composition was used to explain the locations and identification of coin mines [1,8]. Mercury was observed on the surface of the silver coins of the emperor Khusro II (591-628) [7]. The presence of gold in the silver coins indicated the use of non-galena ore for silver extraction, and microstructural analyses of samples pointed to the application of thermomechanical processes on coins [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metallurgical investigations of Indo-Sasanian Copper-Silver alloy coins of Gurjara-Pratiharas dynasty

Malsure

Verma²,

Singh³

2020

Metall Mater Eng

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Five Indo-Sasanian copper-silver alloy coins were examined to determine the chemical composition and fabrication route. Based on iconography, the investigated coins were dated in the range 8th to 9th century CE. The chemical composition of the coins confirmed that the coins were made of copper-silver alloy. The percentage of silver was found to be in the range from 14 wt.% to 16 wt.%, and other elements iron and lead were present as impurities. There was no significant difference in the chemical composition from the surface to the center. Chlorine was detected in the localized green corrosion, which confirms the presence of active corrosion, and coins must be conserved by giving proper conservation treatment. The formation of unusual active corrosion compounds i.e. paratacamite was identified by the XRD, and this may be formed due to the exposure of coins to river water and soil. Optical microscopy revealed the dendritic and dual-phase structure, and the presence of dendrite showed that the coins were manufactured by the casting. It was confirmed from the optical microscopy that coins were not subjected to heat treatment and deformation. The microstructure consists of dual phases, in which the white phase is silver-rich, and the black phase is rich in copper. The morphology and chemical composition of the corrosion compound formed on the surface of the coins mainly indicated the formation of copper oxide with different morphology.

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The mystery of mercury-layers on ancient coins — A multianalytical study on the Sasanian coins under the Reign of Khusro II

Cited by 37 publications

References 11 publications

IAEA Nuclear Science and Instrumentation Laboratory: Support to IAEA Member States and Recent Developments

IAEA Nuclear Science and Instrumentation Laboratory: Support to IAEA Member States and Recent Developments

Multi‐technical study of silver denars from medieval Poland for an improved understanding of their archaeological context and provenance

Metallurgical investigations of Indo-Sasanian Copper-Silver alloy coins of Gurjara-Pratiharas dynasty

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